Team India Announce Playing XI For Third Test Against Australia; Rohit Sharma Returns, Navdeep Saini To Debut

Mumbai: India have announced their playing XI for the third Test against Australia which will get underway from Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney.

Newly-appointed Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma makes his comeback from injury and is all set to open the innings with young Shubman Gill. Rohit has been included in the side at the expense of Mayank Agarwal, who struggled to score runs in the first two Tests.

NEWS – #TeamIndia announce Playing XI for the 3rd Test against Australia at the SCG.
Navdeep Saini is all set to make his debut.#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/lCZNGda8UD

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 6, 2021

Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane will continue to lead the side in Virat Kohli’s absence and look to inspire India to another dominant win after handing Australia an 8-wicket thrashing in the second Test to level the series 1-1.

While Rohit’s addition to the top-order comes as a boost for the visitors, Navdeep Saini has been named a replacement for injured Umesh Yadav.

Saini was locked in a battle with Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan for the third pacer’s slot and eventually got the nod. He will be partnering with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in the pace attack.

Siraj had impressed on his debut in the second Test and returned with five wickets. He will be looking to continue his impressive run in the third Test with India missing as many as three senior pacers.

India’s playing XI for Third Test:

Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini.