Australia announced playing 11 for the fourth test, situation regarding Head became clear

IND vs AUS: Australia has announced its playing 11 for the Boxing Day Test match starting on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This will be the deciding match of the 5-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 being played between India and Australia. The series is tied at 1-1 after India's victory in the first match and Australia's comeback in the second, while the third match ended in a draw. In such a situation, a fierce competition will be seen between the two teams in the fourth Test.

Relief from Travis Head's return

Australian captain Pat Cummins told in a press conference a day before the match that two major changes have been made in the team. He also made it clear that star batsman Travis Head is fully ready to play the match after passing the fitness test. Head has performed brilliantly in this series so far and has scored 409 runs in 5 innings at an average of 81.80. After the last Test played at the Gaba, questions were raised on his fitness, but he has given relief to the team by returning in time.

Constas to make debut, Boland returns to the team

The biggest change in the playing 11 has been made regarding opening batsman Nathan Maxwini. Maxwini could not contribute much with the bat in the first three matches, due to which he was dropped from the team and 19-year-old Sam Constas has been given a chance to debut. Apart from this, fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who has been ruled out of the series due to injury, has been replaced by Scott Boland in the team. Boland has experience of playing on home ground, which will strengthen the Australian bowling attack.

Australia's declared playing 11

The Australian team for the Boxing Day Test against India is as follows:

Usman Khawaja

Sam Constas

Marnus Labuschagne

Steve Smith

Travis Head

Mitchell Marsh

Alex Carey (wicketkeeper)

Pat Cummins (captain)

Mitchell Starc

Nathan Lyon

Scott Boland

The decisive match of the series

The whole world has its eyes on the Melbourne Test. While India will enter with the intention of winning the series, Australia will try to capture the trophy on its home ground. This match between the two teams is expected to be exciting.