A rejigged Indian bowling attack including the recalled Ravindra Jadeja will get first crack on a green Gabba pitch after the visitors won their third consecutive toss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Captain Rohit Sharma elected to bowl as India named Akash Deep to play his first Test outside India with Harshit Rana dropped following his wicketless outing in their 10-wicket defeat in Adelaide.

Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

 

India XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep

Jadeja has been picked for his first game of the tour as India dropped Ravichandran Ashwin, marking a third consecutive Test in which they have rotated their spinning allrounder following Washington Sundar’s appearance in the series opener.

Australia’s reunited big three pace trio will have to wait to get their chance to bowl on what has been tipped as a spicy surface.

“A little bit overcast and there’s a bit of grass and looks a little soft as well,” Rohit said at the toss. “So we want to try and make the best use of the conditions and try and see what we can do with the ball up front.

“As the game goes on, it will get better and better to bat. But we want to try and make the best use of the conditions up front.”

Pat Cummins had confirmed on match eve that Scott Boland was the unfortunate bowler to make way for the returning Josh Hazlewood, who missed in Adelaide due to a side strain.

“Really happy with how last week went,” Cummins said on Saturday morning after his side had levelled the series at 1-1 in Adelaide. “Just about everyone got themselves into this series.”

India continue to surprise with the mixing and matching of their spinners. It is a flex to call upon Jadeja, Test cricket’s No.1 ranked allrounder, after leaving him out for the first two matches of the series.

The visitors had opted for the right-arm off-spin of Sundar and Ashwin in the first two Tests, likely to counter the threat of Travis Head, whose supreme recent record against India continued in Adelaide. with his match-winning century.

Jadeja’s selection is a departure from that, though his ability to turn the ball away from right-handers like Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith will be an asset.

All eyes will be on Jasprit Bumrah on Saturday after he appeared hobbled by a groin niggle in the second Test. His selection for this match would suggest the injury is of no major concern.

Hazlewood meanwhile said Australia had waited to see how he pulled up on match from his main training session the previous day to confirm his inclusion in this Test.

“Everything’s feeling pretty good. It’s been a frustrating start the last few weeks, but then just kept ticking the boxes as I went along,” Hazlewood told SEN on Saturday morning. “It’s good to be back bowling, and good to feel nice and fit.”

India have favourable memories from this venue having sealed their famous 2020-21 series victory at the Gabba.

“Definitely (felt) very nostalgic when I came here,” said Shubman Gill, who scored a crucial 91 in that Brisbane Test to help his side stun the hosts and claim an upset series victory.

NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal