Australia vs India, 2nd Test: Rohit Sharma elects to bat
What's the story
Australia and India are up against each other in the second Test of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Adelaide Oval.
The encounter will be played under the lights. Over the years, the two teams have shown their domination in Day/Night Tests.
Though India are 1-0 up in the series, Australia are yet to lose a Day/Night Test in Adelaide.
Meanwhile, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first.
Pitch analysis
Adelaide's pitch and weather conditions could favor pacers
The Adelaide wicket is pretty flat, which means batters can play their strokes freely. However, the pink ball moves during the twilight period.
Notably, the pitch curator has predicted rain and thunderstorms on Day 1 of the upcoming match, which could favor pacers.
Further, a 6mm grass covering is expected on the pitch that might assist seamers.
Information
Timing and streaming details
The 2nd Test between Australia and India starts on December 6 at the Adelaide Oval, with the first day's play starting at 9:30am IST. The match will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network and DD Sports and live-streamed on the Disney+Hotstar app.
Past encounters
A look at India and Australia's Test history
India and Australia have clashed 108 times in the longest format, with India winning 33 and Australia 45.
29 matches have been drawn, and one contest ended in a tie.
On Australian soil, India have won 10 out of 52 matches, losing 30 and drawing 13.
Notably, Australia won the only pink-ball match between the two sides, at the Adelaide Oval in 2020.
Track record
Australia's impressive record in Day/Night Tests
Australia have been phenomenal in Day/Night Tests, winning 11 out of their 12 pink-ball matches. Their only loss came against West Indies earlier this year.
All of Australia's 12 Day/Night Tests have been played at home, with seven of them being played in Adelaide where they have a 100% record.
This could give them an edge.
Squad alterations
Team updates and changes
Rohit had earlier confirmed that KL Rahul will open the batting in Adelaide while he will bat in the middle order.
Notably, Rohit missed the series opener due to personal reasons.
Shubman Gill and Ravichandran Ashwin have also returned to the Indian XI as Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar and Devdutt Padikkal make way for the trio.
Australia have included speedster Scott Boland in their XI as he replaces Josh Hazlewood who is out due to injury.
XIs
Here are the playing XIs
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.