Ind vs Aus: Can Mayank Agarwal fill the vaccum at the top of batting order?

After a lot of hue and cry over India’s playing 11 during Perth Test, the Indian cricket Team management named the playing 11 for Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on Christmas. India dropped both the openers – K L Rahul and Murali Vijay—after their dismal show in the first two tests. However, only one recognized opener, Mayank Agarwal has been inducted in the playing 11, with Hanuma Vihari, a middle-order  expected to be his opening partner. This will be only for the second time that any opener will debut in Australia and also this would be first time in India’s cricketing history when two inexperienced players will open in Australia.

Mayank Agarwal First class record

	Matches	Innings	Runs	Highest score	Average	Strike Rate	hundreds	Fifties
First-class	46	76	3,599	304 (no)	49.98	61.39	8	20
List A	75	75	3,605	176	48.71	100.72	12	14
T20s	111	106	2,340	111	23.4	130.79	1	15
Source: espncricinfo.com

On the other hand, Australia recalled all-rounder Mitchell Marsh while dropping middle order batsman Peter Handscomb. He scored 34, 14, 7 and 13 in the four innings of the first two test. Skipper Tim Paine said Marsh's ability to support the bowlers had been a key factor for his inclusion but acknowledged that Handscomb might feel hard done by at being dropped from a winning team. The four-match series is tied at 1-1 after the tourists won the first test in Adelaide by 31 runs and Australia took a 146-run victory in the second in Perth.
 

Here are the playing 11 of both teams ahead of the Boxing Day test
 
India playing 11: Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
 
Australia playing 11: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

 
India vs Australia 3rd Test live streaming details
 
Date: December 26, 2018

Day: Wednesday

Place: Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG

Time: 5 a.m. (IST)
 
India vs Australia third test will be available live on Sony Six HD and Sony Six in English, and with Hindi commentary on Sony Ten 3 Hindi and Sony Ten 3 HD Hindi. One can live stream India vs Australia match at Sony Liv app.
 
India vs Australia head-to-head

Overall

Total Matches: 78
 
India won: 20
 
Australia won: 34
 
Draw: 23
 
Tie: 1
 
In Australia
 
Total Matches: 36
 
India won: 5
 
Australia won: 22
 
Draw: 9
 
Tie: 0

Here is the squad of both the teams

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Archie Schiller
 
India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, K L Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar