Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Ready to spar on Boxing Day

Divine intervention and a wagging tail might have lifted India’s sagging spirits in Brisbane but an out-of-form skipper Rohit Sharma’s batting position will be in focus against a dangerous Australia bracing to deliver the knockout punch in the ‘Boxing Day’ Test starting here on Thursday.

The Indian skipper was the last to hit the nets on Christmas eve and there is speculation doing rounds that he could replace the team’s most assured opener, KL Rahul, at the top of the order.

If that happens, Rahul will come in at No. 3 while Shubman Gill could either play in the middle order or make way for a Dhruv Jurel in the playing eleven. The series is currently locked 1-1.

The Indian skipper stopped batting in the middle order after being elevated to the opening slot back in 2019. But he chose to come down in Adelaide and Brisbane to accommodate an in-form Rahul and first-Test centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The move was a spectacular failure and it remains to be seen how the team adjusts in case Rohit opens and Gill is either dropped or bats at number five.

Asked about his batting position during the pre-match press conference, he was borderline irritated.

"Let’s not worry about that. I think who bats where, we should be discussing that within ourselves and I shouldn’t be answering this question in every press conference," the skipper just about held his composure.

How teams are stacked

Both captains feel that 1-1 after three games is a fair reflection of the competition between the sides but things can quickly change at the MCG.

The rain-affected draw at the Gabba was like a soothing balm for India after Pink Test debacle in Adelaide.

But now, India are back at one of their favourite Australian venues where they have remained undefeated in Tests since the 2014 series.

The last two (2018-19 and 2020-21) of the three Tests (other being 2014-15) resulted in Indian wins where solid batting played its part.

But this line-up, with three young mavericks (Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill), one confident opener (KL Rahul) and a couple of ageing stalwarts (Virat Kohli and Rohit) hasn’t looked very assured. They will have to put up their best show against a home team which isn’t exactly a runaway favourite either but has shown tremendous resilience.

For under-fire Rohit, it is his own reputation as a Test batter that is at stake while Kohli will need to channelise the inner champion in him which lit up the MCG skyline with the most talked about sixes in his T20 career.

Those sixes required flair, the situation now will warrant loads of patience when Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc tease him with that probing line outside the off stump.

For Rohit, the equation is as simple as it gets. Win the next two Tests and likely head into a potentially memorable swansong at the Lord’s in June.

A captain has to score and even without an injured Josh Hazlewood, Australia would be a handful with local hero Scott Boland ready to bowl those uncompromising hard lengths.

Jaiswal, Gill and Pant would like to live up to their own expectations and go into the game with an uncluttered mindset as expected by their skipper.

Bumrah equals Ashwin’s record

Dubai: Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah got a huge boost on the eve of the Boxing Day Test when he achieved the joint-highest rating ever by an Indian player, equalling the record held by spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the ICC Ranking for Bowlers. The quick gained 14 rating points following his 9/94 in the drawn third Test at Brisbane to not only equal Ashwin’s highest-ever 904 rating points but also consolidate his position at the top of the rankings. Bumrah has a chance to better Ashwin’s rating points, which the now-retired off-spinner achieved in December 2016, when the fourth match of the BGT begins at the MCG on Thursday.