🏏Australia vs India, 5th Test: Sydney, 03 - 07 Jan 2025: Day 3🏏 - Page 3

Pat Cummins: We were looking to bat as well. But it is overcast and hopefully we will swing the ball early. Sell out in the first few days. Just kept replaying in our heads the last session. Feels like every summer gets bigger and bigger here in Australia. This week is always special. Just one change. Beau Webster is debuting in place of Mitchell Marsh.

Jasprit Bumrah: We are looking to bat first. We have played some good cricket. The last match was exciting. The grass doesn't look spicy. We always have learnt to digest defeats. We will look forward to this. Our skipper has opted to rest. It shows the unity we have. We have two changes. Rohit has opted out and Prasidh comes in for the injured Akashdeep.

Teams:

Australia (Playing XI): Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

There is a lot of grass on the pitch. The sun is not out and it is very overcast. The new ball will not be easy for the batters. Konstas batted well at the MCG. Batting with the new ball won't be easy. The captain would ideally want to bowl first. - Sunny G at the pitch report.

I wonder why everyone thought to bat first!

There is 7mm grass on the deck and despite that India have opted to bat first in overcast conditions. Talk about being bold! But is bravado devoid of calculations? Or have India tried to decipher the surface underneath? I am sure they have tried to analyze the deck and have opted to have a bat first. Can't really recall too many Indian teams of the past when under so much pressure, taking such a bold call. The skipper on the tour has rested himself and the stand-in captain decides to bat first wicket on a green turf. Welcome indeed to 2025...

Pat Cummins: We were looking to bat as well. But it is overcast and hopefully we will swing the ball early. Sell out in the first few days. Just kept replaying in our heads the last session. Feels like every summer gets bigger and bigger here in Australia. This week is always special. Just one change. Beau Webster is debuting in place of Mitchell Marsh.

Jasprit Bumrah: We are looking to bat first. We have played some good cricket. The last match was exciting. The grass doesn't look spicy. We always have learnt to digest defeats. We will look forward to this. Our skipper has opted to rest. It shows the unity we have. We have two changes. Rohit has opted out and Prasidh comes in for the injured Akash Deep.

Australia (Playing XI): Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

There is a lot of grass on the pitch. The sun is not out and it is very overcast. The new ball will not be easy for the batters. Konstas batted well at the MCG. Batting with the new ball won't be easy. The captain would ideally want to bowl first. - Sunny G at the pitch report.

There is 7mm grass on the deck and despite that India have opted to bat first in overcast conditions. Talk about being bold! But is bravado devoid of calculations? Or have India tried to decipher the surface underneath? I am sure they have tried to analyze the deck and have opted to have a bat first. Can't really recall too many Indian teams of the past when under so much pressure, taking such a bold call. The skipper on the tour has rested himself and the stand-in captain decides to bat first wicket on a green turf. Welcome indeed to 2025...

Three debutants for Australia in the top seven this series - Nathan McSweeny, Sam Konstas, & Beau Webster. The last time Australia have had as many in a series was against Pakistan in UAE in 2018 when Aaron Finch, Travis Head, & Marnus Labuschagne debuted with three first choice players missing out due to Sandpaper-gate. The last time they have had as many in a home series was four against South Africa in 2016 (Callum Ferguson, Matt Renshaw, Nic Maddinson, & Peter Handscomb) which they lost 1-2.

Mohit Joshi: "4 specialist batsmen, 3 all rounders and 1 keeper. is this a t20 side ? Do India really need 3 all rounders in a test match or 5 specialist batsmen with 1 or 2 all rounders would be a better combination. Specially when only 2 of those 4 specialist batters are in form?"

Soham: "Rahane, Pujara, now Rohit have been rested. let's see when Kohli gets his well deserved rest"

muhle : "Mitch Marsh wondering why he didn't come up with 'opting to rest' "

Yogesh: "Dropping Rohit is a fair decision. Let not our emotions overpower rational thinking. He is out of form as a batsman and as a captain. " Not too many in the comments are critical of the decision. Most are critical of the explanation, however.

Dev: "Losing the toss could be a blessing in disguise for Pat Cummins and Australia. The pitch looks like a garden. " It's got a lot of grass on it. More than normal here.

Mohit Joshi: "4 specialist batsmen, 3 all rounders and 1 keeper. is this a t20 side ? Do India really need 3 all rounders in a test match or 5 specialist batsmen with 1 or 2 all rounders would be a better combination. Specially when only 2 of those 4 specialist batters are in form?"