After four staggering Test matches, it has all boiled down to Sydney where both India and Australia will be stepping in the yard with different objectives ahead of them. For Team India, this is a must-win battle that can help them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy while for Australia, keeping India away from a win at SCG will be a confirmed path to a World Test Championship final berth.

With those embers and sparks flying, Rohit Sharma and company will be hopeful of flipping the tide around but for that to happen, they will need all hands on deck. Australia, on the contrary, will be riding high on their pace-attack which will be fortunate to boast of Mitchell Starc in the side despite his soreness in the last game. Making his way into the playing XI will be another debutant, Beau Webster, who replaces Mitchell Marsh.

India will be pinning their hopes on their bedecked top-order that hasn’t fired at its extreme until now. However, with the kind of charismatic names in the blend, the visitors will be desperate to wring out the very best from names that have been hardened into the cricketing folklore for their preceding heroics around the world and Down Under. Australia will be eyeing for another authoritative showdown against the visitors, knowing for certain that a win in Sydney will leave India out of the race for the WTC final.

Pitch conditions:

SCG pitch curator, Adam Lewis pointed out that there is 7 mm of grass on the top and this will be followed by heavy rolling. With a bit of moisture on the surface, it is expected that the seamers will have quite a say with the new ball in their hands and when the lacquer wears off, the batters will have it easier. However, throughout the game, there will be a hint of shape for the fast-bowlers and one can expect this to be another contest where pacers will reign supreme.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 111

Australia: 47

India: 33

Match Details:

Australia vs India, 5th Test, 2024

Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

Date: 3rd January 2024

Time: 5:00 AM

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (Wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Tanush Kotian, Rishabh Pant (Wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Sam Konstas, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.