India's starting eleven for the Adelaide second Test match against Australia saw three changes. In the pink-ball Test, captain Rohit Sharma who was making a comeback, won the toss and chose to bat first at the Adelaide Oval. Shubman Gill, who missed the first Test because of a fractured thumb, came back to action as anticipated. However, India also included Ravichandran Ashwin, who took Washington Sundar's place in the lineup. On the other hand, Australia only made one change and were seen wearing black armbands.
Why are Australian players wearing black armbands?
Australian players were seen wearing black armbands as a tribute to Phillip Hughes and Ian Redpath. Cricket Australia (CA) did this to honour the late Phillip Hughes, marking the 10-year anniversary of his tragic death. Hughes passed away on November 27, 2014, after a bouncer from Sean Abbott struck him on the neck during a domestic match at the SCG.
The Aussies were also paying tribute to the Australian veteran Ian Redpath who passed away on December 1, 2024, at the age of 83.
As for the match, Mitchell Starc struck on the very first ball of the match and dismissed young Yashasvi Jaiswal on a golden duck. However, a partnership between Shubman Gill and KL Rahul did not let the visitors fall on the back foot and take a steady charge. At the time of writing, India is batting at 61/1 at the end of 17 overs.
IND vs AUS Playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland