IND V AUS 3rd Test: Australia opt to bat first; Vijay comes back for India

Photo: AP

New Delhi: Australia won the toss and chose to bat first in the all important third Test at Ranchi.

Special occasion for Murali Vijay as the Indian opener comes back from injury to replace Abhinav Mukund to play his 50th Test match.

Vijay is only fifth specialist opener after Sunil Gavaskar (125), Virender Sehwag (103), Gautam Gambhir (58) and Navjot Singh Sidhu (51).

"It is a great feeling to be honest. I never thought I would play so many Test matches for India," Vijay tiold BCCI.TV.

"It has been a great journey and I would like to thank the TNCA and Chemplast - my club team for the immense support throughout my journey so far. It has been great and have enjoyed every bit of it. It was a great moment when I got into the team. I never thought once that I didn’t belong here," he recollected his journey with a lot of fondness.

"Every moment has been priceless. I remember everything about my matches till date - right from the time I walked into the Indian dressing room to now and each moment has been close to me. It has just pushed me to do better each time I get an opportunity to represent my country. The journey has been amazing and I can't put it across in words. I am living my dream."

For Australia there were two forced changes. Glenn Maxwell came in for Mitchell Marsh to strengthen the spin bowling department and Pat Cummins replaced the injured Mitchell Starc