India's stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and the team management have decided to call back Rohit Sharma for the third Test against Australia which will be played from Thursday (7 December) at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Rohit comes into the side in place of Mayank Agarwal and is expected to open the innings alongside young Shubman Gill.
NEWS - #TeamIndia announce Playing XI for the 3rd Test against Australia at the SCG.
Navdeep Saini is all set to make his debut.#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/lCZNGda8UD
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 6, 2021
The visitors have also decided to hand a Test debut to pacer Navdeep Saini. The Delhi fast bowler will be taking injured Umesh Yadav's spot in the side.
Umesh was ruled of the Test series after he sustained a strain in his left calf muscle on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test.
Those were the only two changes that India have made to the playing XI that helped the visitors level the series 1-1 with a win at Melbourne.
India's Playing XI for Sydney Test: Rohit Sharma (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini
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Ian Healy lashed out at Australia skipper Tim Paine for for sledging India's Ravichandran Ashwin on the final day.
The jibes were directed at pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah on the third and fourth days of the match and six fans were thrown out of the stadium after the Indian team complained to the umpires.
Siraj and his senior pace colleague Jasprit Bumrah faced racial abuse for two days at the Sydney Cricket Ground, forcing the Indian team management to lodge an official complaint with match referee David Boon. Cricket Australia later offered an unreserved apology for the incidents.