India are a win away from retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Australia winnign though puts them in line for a series win against India after a decade. The result though either way will play a signicant part in the WTC standings with only one of the two likely to get through given South Africa's performance and upcoming fixtures. The forecast has been good, both sides are rested well and a fair bit happened in the gap between Tests.

AUS vs IND Match Details

Date: December 26th, 2024

Time:  5:00 AM IST

Venue: The Melbourne Cricket Ground

AUS vs IND Weather Report

The weather looks promising with a few occasional showers.

AUS vs IND Pitch Report

With the heat and grass on the surface the pitch is expected to quicken up as the Test goes on. The heat could open up some cracks as well and batting first could be better despite past results.

AUS vs IND Head to Head

Stats	Matches	AUS Won	IND Won	Draw	Tie
Overall	110	46	33	30	1
At Brisbane	14	8	4	2	0
Last Five Tests	5	2	1	2	0

AUS vs IND Predicted Playing XI

AUS Playing XI

Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

IND Playing XI

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy/ Washington Sundar, Mohammad Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah

AUS vs IND Key Players

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli ended his century drought in Perth but is still struggling for runs. His poke outside off has been costing him. He comes to Melbourne though, a ground at which he has some good numbers and has found a lot of success.

Usman Khawaja

Khawaja has been through a very lean period this year. He has been out of runs and with next years Ashes on his radar he has some work to do to keep his spot.

AUS vs IND Match Tips

Given India's batting form, Australia continue to stay favorites.

Match Prediction: Australia Will Win The Match