Shubman Gill dropped, Rohit Sharma back at top; Australia opt to bat at MCG

Indian captain Rohit Sharma, on December 26 (Thursday), confirmed at the toss of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test in Melbourne that he will bat at the top of the order. India have left out Shubman Gill from the playing XI and brought in Washington Sundar for the Boxing Day Test.

There’s no complete confirmation of whether Rohit will open the innings or bat at No.3. If he does open the innings, in-form KL Rahul is likely to drop down to No.3. However, in the team sheet shared by the BCCI, Rohit is slotted in to bat at No.3.

Pat Cummins called it correct at the toss and decided to bat first at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Australia had already announced their playing XI. Sam Konstas, 19, is making his debut. Nathan McSweeney goes out, and so does injured Josh Hazlewood. Hometown hero Scott Boland, who featured in the second Test in Adelaide, is back.

There were some concerns regarding Travis Head’s fitness, but the in-form left-hander was declared match-ready on December 25.

India won the first Test before Australia levelled the series in Adelaide. The rain-affected third Test in Brisbane ended in a draw, with the five-match series currently tied at 1-1.

What did two captains say?

Pat Cummins - We gonna have a bat today. There's a bit of grass like an old MCG wicket. It's been a great series so far. As a child in Australia, when you wake up, you have a good night's sleep after Christmas, and you look forward to the first ball. Sam will open the batting and Scott also comes in for Hazlewood.

Rohit Sharma -  We would have batted as well. The series is 1-1, a lot to play for, it gives us a perfect opportunity to show what we are as a team. Whatever situation lies in front of you, you have to fight. It's a new day, and we are looking forward to it. We have one change - GIll misses out and Washington comes in. (On whether he will bat at the top of the order?) Yes, I will. 

Playing XIs

India - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep

Australia - Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

Pitch report

Mark Nicholas and Sunil Gavaskar: The heavy roller is doing its bit on the surface. There's a lot of grass on the surface, day one pitch, there will be plenty in it for the bowlers. As the sun beats down, batting will become easier. 7mm grass on the surface, it might be slightly tacky at the start. The first couple of hours will be a real test for the batters. The conditions are really hot. 92,000 tickets have been sold and we can't wait to start.

The MCG is no longer the batting paradise it used to be. Over the last four years, the Boxing Day Test has seen a massive change in the first day of the match as batting averages across innings and sessions have dropped drastically. Scoring on the fresh wicket on Day 1 has not been easy, as the average first-innings score has dropped from 446 between 2015-19 to 222 since 2020.