India vs Australia: Decoding India's team selection for Boxing Day Test

For a long time, we have heard about the brilliance of Mayank Agarwal. With tons of runs in domestic circuit, he looked set for an international debut long time back. But with India already having three established openers, Agarwal was always playing catch-up. His patience probably was tested when boy wonder Prithvi Shaw pipped him to debut for India. But now all stars have aligned and it is time for Agarwal to join the big boys club. The challenge is steep- Agarwal will be playing his first match in Australia, that too on Boxing Day against a quality bowling attack which has its tails up. 

The rewards though are handsome too. A half-decent performance can ensure a place in the team for next few matches for Agarwal as the management seems to have finally lost faith in the openers. 

Based on the team composition, it is clear that Hanuma Vihari will be opening for India. So, the team will be playing a makeshift opener with two proper openers axed. This shows that the team is desperately looking for solutions at a time when openers haven't inspired any confidence. 

Vihari has a solid technique with a good backfoot play. But he hasn't really set the stage on fire in his short international career. So playing Vihari as an opener is a big gamble. 

Hardik Pandya is back in the Indian set-up after suffering injury during Asia Cup. In the recovery route, he played a match against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and impressed all with solid all-round performance. But looks like for now Kohli is still a bit uncertain over whether Hardik can cope with the workload for five days. Hardik may well be back for the fourth test if the team thinks he can survive the gruelling schedule of test cricket. 

Virat Kohli had said that they didn't contemplate playing a spinner at WACA. However, Ravi Shastri said that Jadeja was not fully fit and hence wasn't played in the second test. Whatever, be the real reason, team India acutely felt the absence of a quality tweaker in the last test. So Jadeja had to be part of the side. Ashwin though continues to miss out with injury. This is the second series where India's premier spinner is missing action due to injury. Is the BCCI and NCA doing anything about it? 

Umesh Yadav after a lacklustre performance in Perth was bound to get the boot. No, surprises there. But many would have hope for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to start in the final 11. Bhuvi with his swinging ability brings a bit of diversity to Indian bowling attack- which is looking a bit one-dimensional at times.

But the team management believes that Bumrah, Ishant and Shami are good enough to dent Aussie line-up. Bumrah was unlucky last match for getting less returns despite bowling brilliantly. Will the cricket Gods be kinder in the Boxing day test match?

It is likely to be a cracker of a test match and India has taken the first positive step by showing intent in their team selection. Now for the execution.