India vs Australia 2nd Test Match Preview, Squad News and How to watch in India

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India vs Australia 2nd Test Match Preview:

The astounding morning of Saturday last week will still be a nightmare for any Indian cricket fan ever. “36” has become the buzzword in the last couple of days for everyone. Now everyone is eyeing upon the start of the 2nd test, “The Boxing Day Test” as it is referred to, to begin on 26th December at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, only a day after Christmas.

India vs Australia 2nd Test Team News:

With Australian bowlers wreaking havoc on the Indian batsmen, especially Josh

Hazlewood and Pat Cummins who took 9 wickets among themselves in the second innings of Indian batting, the host team will be as confident as before. The early injury of Australian opener David Warner was a shocker to the team but after the last game, they will be gaining enough momentum to get on the ground for the second match. Australian coach Justin Langer pointed out there is no need for changes in the playing XI and they will be proceeding with the same team.

Here the Indian counterpart must be busy analyzing their flaws and measures for rectifying them. With the absence of the Indian Captain Virat Kohli, who is returning to India tobe present with his family at the time of the birth of his child, it is most probably Ajinkya Rahanewho is going to lead the team. 

But at this crucial time, India needs Virat Kohli- the ICC Rank1 batsman more than Kohli- the captain. In his absence, the batting line up seems a bit struggling, with all the pressure on senior batsmen Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. It clearly seems that Rahane is going to bat a position earlier at No. 4, in the absence of Kohli, and it is the IPL star KL Rahul who may be included in the team to come at third down to bat, who is in a tremendous form for the last couple of months. With Mohd Shami’sinjury and Prithvi Shaw’s struggles against opening spells, Team India may consider a few more changes in the playing XI. Shubhman Gill could be seen replacing Shaw in the second match.

The only day-night test of this series has been over and it was the first such test match played by team India. As the news suggests Indian Opener Rohit Sharma has already arrived on Australian soil and has been under quarantine in Sydney. He is said to be ready by the3rd Test and is expected to anchor the Indian batsmen in the last two matches of the series. Again the capacity of the MCG has been increased from 25,000 visitors to 30,000 after seeing the eagerness of the cricket fans who have been waiting to cheer their respective teams since the COVID outbreak.

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When to Watch India vs Australia 2nd Test?

As all the remaining Tests will be Day matches, the 2nd match will start at 5.00am according to the Indian Standard time.

Where to Watch India vs Australia 2nd Test?

Cricket Australia signed a 6-year deal with Sony Television Networks back in 2017-18 to telecast all its matches. So Indian Cricket enthusiasts can watch the match on Sony SIX, SONY TEN 1, and SONY TEN 3.SONY TEN 3 will cover the match in the Hindi language and the other two channels will cover the match in the English language. People using OTT platforms can live stream the match on the Sony LIV app. Jio and Airtel users can enjoy the live stream on JioTV and Airtel Xstream respectively.

Squads For India vs Australia 2nd Test :

INDIA

Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

*Virat Kohli only available for the first / Rohit Sharma only available for 3rd and 4th 

Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th test of the series.

AUSTRALIA

Tim Paine (c), Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, WillPucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

*David Warner will only be available for the last two matches.

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