IND vs AUS 3rd Test Toss: Mayank & Vihari to open as India win toss and opt to bat

IND vs AUS 3rd Test Toss: After losing the 2nd Test in Perth by 146 runs, India get a fair opportunity to dominate in Melbourne as skipper Virat Kohli have opted to bat first after winning the toss

IND vs AUS 3^rd Test: India have won the toss and will bat first.

After losing the 2^nd Test in Perth by 146 runs, India get a fair opportunity to dominate in Melbourne as skipper Virat Kohli have opted to bat first after winning the toss.

“We will make the first use of this surface. This pitch looks like a nice surface but it looks bit dry. So, it is going to be slower and slower. We are taking this Test as the last Test of this tour. We want to be at our best for this match,” said the Indian skipper at the toss.

Openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay have been dropped from the next game and in their absence, Mayank Agarwal is set to make his international debut and likely to open the innings with Hanuma Vihari.

At the same time, Rohit Sharma has been declared fit and is back in the middle-order after missing out the game in Perth.

India have also dropped pacer Umesh Yadav to bring in Ravindra Jadeja back into the XI. This will only be Jadeja's second away Test this year.

“We have made three changes to the team. Hanuma Vihari has batted at three all his life, he has shown good technique and he will open. We considered opening with Rohit but he is so dangerous with the tail-enders so we decided to go with Hanuma. Jadeja has come in place of Umesh Yadav,” added Kohli.

On the other hand, Australian skipper Tim Paine stated that he wasn’t too sure about what to be done after winning the toss but he is pretty happy batting first. They had also announced their playing XI and brought back all-rounder Mitchell Marsh to replace Peter Handscomb.

“I am happy to be bowling. We have a pretty inexperienced group so a win certainly helps. I would have laughed if someone would have told me last year that I will be the skipper for the Australian team in the next Boxing Day Test. Archie wanted to bat 100% but I told him that I was not entirely sure,” said Paine.

Indian Playing XI:

Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia Playing XI:

Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Tim Paine (capt), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood