India lock horns with Australia for the final Border-Gavaskar showdown as Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first in the fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday (March 9).
The honourable prime ministers of both the countries Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese graced were also spotted in attendance to watch the all-important clash.
Rohit Sharma made one important change in India's playing XI as he dropped Mohammed Siraj to bring in Mohammed Shami. Meanwhile Steve Smith made no changed in Australia's playing XI.
“We would have batted first. We know what needs to be done. Siraj is rested and Shami is back. It's always nice to have some time off. We need to regroup as a team, you can reflect on so many things. Not the surface what we saw in the first three Tests, looks a good pitch, I hope it stays the same for all five days,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said.
FOLLOW the INDIA vs AUSTRALIA 4th Test live scores here
“We are going to have a bat, playing with the same team. Looks like a nice surface, does look like a good wicket. The guys performed well last week. We'll wait and see,” Australia skipper Steve Smith said after the toss.
Australia have already fixed their berth in ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-2023 final after winning the third Test against India. Now, India need to win the fourth Test to confirm their place in the WTC final which will be held at the Oval in June.
Head to Head
In head-to-head encounters in Tests, India and Australia have played 105 matches. India has won 32 games while Australia has grabbed wins in 44 matches. In the last 5 games, India has defeated Australia in 3 matches while the latter has won once.
Pitch report
“The pitch looks different to the one used against England. It looks well rolled, there is an even covering of grass and there are a few dry patches on the surface. Looks slightly damp as it's early in the morning. The spinners have loved to operate in these conditions. The wicket is going to break up as the game progresses. Plenty of wickets in it for the spinners, but it will play better than the previous pitches used in the series,” Australian cricket legend Matthew Hayden analysed the pitch.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith(c), Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann.
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