India will be aiming to make the historic Ranchi Test a memorable one by registering a win against Steven Smith & Co. and with it shut the blabber going around in Australian media about Indian skipper Virat Kohli and their head coach Anil Kumble. You can watch the live coverage on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3 HD and stream it live on Hotstar. Also, catch the fastest digital coverage only on InUth.
However, there is a slight disappointing news for Ranchi crowd as their hometown star MS Dhoni won’t be gracing the stands with his presence due to commitments for Jharkhand team in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy in which he took his team to the semi-finals with a six.
There has been a lot of fuss around the Ranchi pitch as well and the curator taking orders from Dhoni, Kumble and Kohli to select the pitch to be chosen for the game. On this controversy, the curator cleared the air and said he would not be influenced by anyone and dismissed any false reports.
And…we are off! Ranchi are you ready? #TeamIndia #INDvAUS @Paytm Test cricket pic.twitter.com/33HSprZA1K
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 16, 2017
Australia will feel Mitchell Starc’s absence in the side. The replacement is more likely to be Pat Cummins who has been called for the last two Tests. Also, there is a slight chance that Jackson Bird gets a nod ahead of Cummins.
.@mvj888 is at the verge of playing his landmark Test tomorrow & is eager to make it a memorable one,writes @28anand https://t.co/bShDKlVTFN pic.twitter.com/l1pwxFE6hJ
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 15, 2017
Mitchell Marsh’s place too is vacant and Australia have three major applicants to chose from for this berth. The major contenders are Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar and Glenn Maxwell. However, from the looks of it Stoinis is more likely to play the Ranchi Test.
Just for laughs. How’s that for a pitch report 😉 @sanjaymanjrekar at it #INDvAUS @Paytm Test Cricket pic.twitter.com/lhCiMOJyzJ
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 16, 2017
Squads:
India: Lokesh Rahul, Abhinav Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Jayant Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav
Australia: David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Steven Smith(c), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade(wk), Pat Cummins, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar
