India announces team for MCG Test vs Australia; Shubman Gill & Mohammed Siraj to debut

Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj will be making their respective Test debuts as Team India has announced its playing XI for the all-important second Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that gets underway on Saturday. 

Gill & Siraj to make their debut

Gill has replaced an under-fire Prithvi Shaw who could only manage four runs in two innings in Adelaide and ended up putting the visitors under pressure early on as he had failed to see off the new ball bowlers' spells. Siraj on the other hand was a forced change as frontline pacer Mohammed Shami has been ruled out for the remainder of the series after having fractured his bowling wrist in the previous game. 

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The Indian team will be captained by Ajinkya Rahane as regular skipper Virat Kohli has flown back to India on paternal leave. Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also gets to feature in the Playing XI. Meanwhile, youngster Rishabh Pant will be donning the gloves as Wriddhiman Saha will be benched for the upcoming contest. 

The Bengal stumper could hardly make an impression with either the bat or behind the wickets in the pink-ball Test. He failed to even reach double figures with scores of 9, and, 4 in both innings and had also dropped a catch as well. 

The Indian squad for the Boxing Day Test match was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their official Twitter handle. Here's a look at Team India's Playing XI for a high-voltage clash at the MCG. 

A must-win contest for Team India

This is a must-win encounter for India as a loss here would mean that the Aussies end up taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series. A win at the iconic MCG will help the hosts in securing the series irrespective of the outcome in the final two Tests in Sydney and Brisbane respectively. 

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