LIVE SCORECARD
Australia won the toss and chose to bat first
India – Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.
Australia – David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Steven Smith(c), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
Virat Kohli says that they have lost the toss in the last couple of series but ended up winning those games. Feels it’s a challenge once you lose the toss and informs that they also wanted to bat first. Adds they have prepared well and everyone is ready to go. Praises his boys for the performance in Bangalore and wants to capitalize on it. Also adds that the preparation has been good. Informs about the one change, Murali Vijay returns in place of Abhinav Mukund.
Steven Smith says that he doesn’t think there will be much bounce and the pitch will take more spin as the game goes on. He hopes to post a good first innings total. Informs that they have prepared well for this game and it was nice to get some rest in between. Confirms that they have two changes – Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins replace Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc.
Up goes the coin, Steven Smith calls it correctly and wins an important toss for his team. No surprises, Australia have elected to bat!
Thankfully, all the off field drama can be put to rest as we are all set to get underway once again. Both sides are on equal terms as far as this series is concerned and there is plenty to play for. We are expecting a cracking contest at this new Test venue in Ranchi. Stay with us for all the updates…
Hello and welcome to the first day of the third Test between India and Australia in Ranchi. A gripping contest between both the sides ended eight days ago in Bengaluru, but the intensity hasn’t died since. There have been endless debates about Virat Kohli’s allegations and Steve Smith’s ‘brain fade’ moment. If that was not enough, Ranchi’s pitch became a topic of discussion days before the match even started.
