Australia vs India 2018: Anil Kumble Reveals his Playing XI For the Boxing Day Test

Former Indian National Cricket team skipper and the head coach, Anil Kumble has revealed his playing XI for the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Meanwhile, Australia came from 1-0 down to level the series at Perth beating Virat Kohli & Co by 146 runs. The series kicked off with India delivering the first blow as the visiting team won the first Test by a margin of 31 runs. It was India’s first win in Australia in the last decade and the sixth win overall.

However, the hosts came back from behind to level the series at Perth. Nathan Lyon put his best foot forward to inspire the Aussies to beat the Aussies by 146 runs. The visitors struggled as the lacked a spinner in their ranks and Lyon made the difference with his match-winning effort.

India will have to put an improved effort when they take on Tim Paine & Co in the Boxing Day Test. In a bid to do so, Anil Kumble has recommended for a change in the opening pair. He has urged the selectors to hand the debut cap to Mayank Agarwal and promote Hanuma Vihari in the batting order. In addition to, he also kept two spinners in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI.

Kumble further went on to say that Vihari has solid technique and he can definitely open the innings. Indirectly, he asked to drop the incumbent opening pair, who has so far struggled in the Test series.

Playing XI of Anil Kumble for the third Test: 

Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.