Australia vs India Preview: Team News & Prediction | 4th Test
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Following a rain-affected draw in Brisbane, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series remains tantalisingly poised heading into the world-famous Boxing Day Test at the MCG, where a win for either Australia or India would be worth its weight in gold.
Date/Time: Wednesday December 25th 2024: US PST – 3:30pm / US EST – 6:30pm / UK – 11:30pm
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Weather: Sunshine likely across all five scheduled days, albeit with some cloud cover on days two and three with extremely hot conditions on day one in particular as temperatures reach the high thirties.
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Australia Team News
The big news among the Australian camp is the ruthless decision to axe opener Nathan McSweeney from the squad after just three Tests, with the selectors calling up 19-year-old Sam Konstas to replace him. McSweeney had only managed to accumulate 72 runs through the series with a top score of 39, whilst the highly-rated Konstas has begun the season in excellent form across all formats for both New South Wales and Sydney Thunder respectively.
Meanwhile, bowler Josh Hazlewood is expected to play no further part in the series due to a calf injury, so Scott Boland will likely slot into the starting line-up again on his home ground, where he famously recorded career-best Test figures of six wickets for the loss of just seven runs in a single innings against England three years ago.
Predicted line-up: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India Team News
India were rocked by the sudden international retirement of legendary spin-bowler Ravichandran Ashwin following the third Test. Ashwin had not featured in the third Test after playing in Adelaide, but his leadership within the squad will be greatly missed. Therefore, Ravindra Jadeja is likely to start as India’s sole spinner, although the tourists do have the option of selecting Washington Sundar or Tanush Kotian, who has been called-up as Ashwin’s replacement.
Pace bowler Mohammed Shami will not join the India squad in Melbourne or Sydney following a case of knee swelling, whilst Akash Deep has been cleared of any injury after his arm was struck whilst batting in the nets ahead of this fourth Test.
Predicted line-up: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep
Australia Betting Analysis
Australia have struggled badly at the top of all their completed innings so far over the course of this five-Test series. McSweeney and Usman Khawaja had combined for less than 100 runs (99 in total) whilst together at the crease. Their highest first-wicket partnership was just 31, which was made in the third Test. Whilst Konstas replacing McSweeney may see an improvement, it’s a big ask for a 19-year-old to make an immediate impact against a bowling attack of India’s quality at a ground that has favoured quick bowlers over the past few years. With that in mind, back Australia to record an opening partnership of under 25.5 runs between Konstas and Khawaja.
India Betting Analysis
It’s now 21 wickets in three Tests for the genius that is Jasprit Bumrah. His status as the best bowler in the world today is unquestionable at this point, no matter what the conditions. Having already shone across the opening two matches, the right-arm speedster’s best performance yet came in Brisbane. A six-wicket-haul in the first innings was followed by three wickets in the third, with no other bowler coming close to matching his tally of nine wickets across the entire Test. Backing Bumrah via multiple markets represents a sensible move for bettors ahead of the fourth Test, including Team - Top 1st Innings Bowlers and to take over 5.5 scalps via the ‘Bowler Total Match Wickets’ market.
Australia vs India Expert Prediction
Fans of Test cricket in general, not just those who support one of these two nations should be hugely excited by this upcoming contest. The MCG has hosted many a memorable Boxing Day tests and this is all set up to be a potential thriller. For Australia, they must figure out a way to counter the brilliance of Bumrah, alongside teammate Mohammed Siraj and make a good start when their turn comes to bat.
As for India, they desperately need their big batting stars to fire following poor returns for the likes of Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma across the last two Tests. But with Bumrah in the side, they’ll always have a chance and assuming the MCG pitch plays like it has done over the past three years, which has seen ten wickets fall in 13 of the last 14 Test innings on this ground, then the expectation is that Bumrah will once again wreak havoc.
Australia vs India Tip: Jasprit Bumrah to take 5+ wickets
