🏏Australia vs India, 2nd Test: Adelaide, 06 - 10 Dec 2024: Day 3🏏 - Page 3

India will take on Australia in the pink-ball Test, starting December 6, Friday. This will be India's second day-night Test outing in Australia after 2020. Rohit Sharma's men will be aiming to build on their confidence from the 1st Test win and better their record at Adelaide Oval in the traditional. India have played 13 Tests so far at the iconic venue and managed to win only two matches, in 2003 and 2018. They have lost 8 out of 13 Tests and three resulted in a draw in Adelaide.

India won the first Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy under Jasprit Bumrah's captaincy by 295 runs, registering their biggest win in Tests on Australian soil. Indian captain Rohit is making a return to the side after welcoming his baby boy in November. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill will also bolster the playing XI as he scored a brisk fifty against the Prime Minister's XI in a practice game after recovering from a thumb injury. The Indian team will have revenge in their minds as they have scores to settle from last time's 36 all-out at the same venue.

Captain Rohit Sharma confirmed he would bat in the middle-order, allowing KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to continue their partnership at the top. The makeshift opening pair was crucial to India's success in Perth, stitching a 201-run stand in the second innings.

Pink Ball Test: All you need to know

The pink ball poses its own challenges and India are well aware that they need to start from zero and that there's no room for complacency. It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma and his men can conquer the demons of 2020 and continue to dominate Australia, who are under pressure after the humbling in Perth.

What are the session timings for Australia vs India pink-ball Test match?

• First Session: 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM IST (2:30 PM - 4:30 PM local time, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM AEDT)
• Tea Break: 11:30 AM - 12:10 PM IST (4:30 PM - 5:10 PM local time, 5:00 PM - 5:40 PM AEDT)
• Second Session: 12:10 PM - 2:10 PM IST (5:10 PM - 7:10 PM local time, 5:40 PM - 7:40 PM AEDT)
• Dinner Break: 2:10 PM - 2:30 PM IST (7:10 PM - 7:30 PM local time, 7:40 PM - 8:00 PM AEDT)
• Third Session: 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM IST (7:30 PM - 9:30 PM local time, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM AEDT).

Pink ball, day-night encounter, picturesque Adelaide oval, two powerhouses with loads of classy players on both sides; this is going to be aesthetically pleasing. There's been a long break after the completion of the first Test - 10 days to be precise. We can't wait any longer. Hello and a warm welcome to the second of the five Tests between Australia and India.

Australia have won 9 of their last 16 Test series, drawn 4 and lost 3. Interestingly, all the three series losses have come against India! Following their heavy 295-run defeat in Perth, they decided not to make any radical changes to their line-up. In fact, they have already announced their XI with Scott Boland coming in for injured Josh Hazlewood being the only forced change. Their batting didn't fire in the opening Test. Twin failures for Khawaja, young McSweeney trapped by Bumrah on both occasions, Labuschagne unable to soak in the pressure and Smith looked streaky after bagging a golden duck in the first essay. Travis Head and Mitch Marsh counterattacked in the final innings but that only helped in reducing the margin of defeat. Can they step up?

Although they conceded 487/6 in the second innings, Cummins and Co. will be pretty confident that the bowlers will deliver the goods. The new pink ball tends to move more than the new red ball and batting under lights isn't straightforward by any means. Australia have lost only just one D/N Test, earlier this year against West Indies, and have a 100% win record at the Adelaide Oval in pink-ball encounters (winning 7 out of 7). The last time these two teams faced off against each other in a day-night Test, Cummins and Hazlewood exhibited a masterclass in seam bowling at the Adelaide Oval to bowl out India for 36. While there's no Hazlewood for this duel, Boland can be equally lethal with his accuracy.

Gnasher: "There's a little bit of weather that could be about to skim past the ground a line of showers bubbling up to north west, so we may need a little bit of luck to get through without interruption."

Despite a comfortable win in the first Test, India are expected to make more changes to the XI than their opponents. And, it's fair to say that they will be fielding a stronger side with the return of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in place of Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel. India ticked a lot of boxes even though they were bundled out for 150 on the opening day of the series. KL Rahul blunted the new ball in both the innings, Jaiswal scored a daddy hundred, Virat Kohli returned to form with a fine century, Nitish Reddy played a couple of handy cameos, Siraj found his rhythm with the ball, Harshit Rana had an impressive debut and Bumrah weaved his magic for which he was named Player of the Match.

Rohit Sharma confirmed yesterday that the opening pair won't be disturbed which means the Indian captain will be batting 'somewhere in the middle' for the first time since December 2018. It'll also be interesting to see if India persist with Washington Sundar or bring back one of their experienced spinners (Ashwin/Jadeja). Kohli loves batting at this venue - 3 centuries, 1 fifty and averages 63.62 in four Tests. This is also Travis Head's home ground where he has a Test average of 70.57. And, Mitchell Starc has a brilliant record in pink-ball Tests - 66 wickets in 12 matches at an impressive average of 18.71.