Everything you need to know for the Border-Gavaskar Gabba test

The teams

Australian selection: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

Indian selection: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep , Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal

No changes to either side between the second and third Tests, with both sides feeling extra rested as the Adelaide Test didn't even reach the halfway mark.

The big question for Australia will be whether or not that will be the case Josh Hazlewood is back to full fitness after missing the second test due to a side strain. For India, there have been rumors Mohammed Shami will jump on a plane to join the squad, but there's no movement on that front. The star forward has played one first-class match and nine T20s since returning from ankle surgery.

Local knowledge

With 33 years without a loss at the venue, the Gabba was Australia's most successful venue until India visited on their final tour in 2020-2021.

During the Covid-affected tour that saw the final match of the four-match series played in Brisbane, a severely undermanned India, led by stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane, pulled off one of the big upsets with a three-wicket win. It is India's only win at the Gabba out of the seven Tests they have played there.

Since India ended Australia's streak, the Aussies have also since lost to West Indies (2023-24) at the Gabba, taking their recent record to two wins (against England and South Africa) and two losses.

Session times

First session: 10:20 AM 12:20 PM (11:20 AM 1:20 PM AEDT; 5:50 AM 7:50 AM IST)

Second session: 1:00 PM 3:00 PM (2:00 PM 4:00 PM AEDT; 8:30 AM 10:30 AM IST)

Third session: 3:20 PM 5:20 PM (4:20 PM 6:20 PM AEDT; 10:50 AM 12:50 PM IST)

* An additional 30 minutes can be used to complete daily overs

The complete series program

First test: India won by 295 runs

Second test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11:20am AEDT

Fourth test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

nbn Quick facts

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• Australia have lost just one of their last five men's Tests against India (W3 D1), despite losing the toss four times in that period
• Australia haven't won back-to-back Test matches against India since December 2014
• Australia lost by three wickets in their final men's Test against India at the Gabba (January 2021) after going unbeaten against them at the venue prior to that result (W5 D1); Indeed, India are one of only four teams that Australia has lost to at the venue (also New Zealand, West Indies and England)
• Australia have not lost consecutive matches at the Gabba since November 1986 – they were defeated by West Indies by eight runs in their last appearance at the venue (January 2024)
• India have lost six of their past twelve men's tests away from home (W5 D1) and will need to avoid consecutive defeats in away tests for the first time since July 2022
• India have scored 53.1 percent of their runs in the men's Tests in 2024 through boundaries, the highest percentage of any team; However, they have also conceded 55.6 percent of their runs through boundaries, which is the highest percentage of any team
• India have had just one century-maker in the last seven first innings; that was it Ravichandran Ashwin would compete against Bangladesh in Chennai
• Nathan Lyon has dismissed Rohit Sharma nine times in Tests, two times more than any other player in the format, while teammate Pat Cummins (five times) has dismissed Rohit Sharma the third time of any bowler
• Virat Kohli (1,475) is just 25 runs away from becoming the second Indian batsman to score 1,500 runs in the Men's Tests in Australia (Sachin Tendulkar 1,809), while only Jack Hobbs (nine) has scored more Test centuries in Australia than Kohli (seven ) among the visiting batter
• Mitch Starc has taken 47 wickets in men's Tests at the Gabba, the fourth most of any bowler (Glenn McGrath 68, Shane Warne 65, Nathan Lyon 51); he has taken at least one wicket there in nine of his past ten innings
• Mitch Starc has taken 369 wickets in his Test career, making him 23rd overall. He needs 14 more to equal Ian Botham (383) to enter the top 20 Test wicket-takers of all time
• jasprit bumrah has dismissed seven batters within the first 20 balls of their innings in this men's Test series between Australia and India, more than any other bowler
• Mohammed Siraj has bowled 52 balls to Travis Head in the series so far, with the Australian scoring 52 runs (with a strike rate of exactly 100) while losing his wicket just once
• Shubman Gill (91) and Rishabh pants (89 no) were instrumental in India's victory at the Gabba in 2021; in fact, only Greg Chappell (109no in 1975) has a higher score in a winning fourth-innings chase at the venue

Head-to-head

General: Australia 46 wins, India 33 wins, 29 draws, one draw

In Australia: Australia 31 wins, India 10 wins, 13 draws

Past 10 years: Australia eight wins (5H, 2A, 1N) India nine wins (4H, 5A), six draws (4 in Aus, 2 in India)

Most runs (overall): Sachin Tendulkar (3630), Ricky Ponting (2555), VVS Laxman (2434), Virat Kohli (2165)Rahul Dravid (2143)

Most runs (in Australia): Ricky Ponting (1893), Sachin Tendulkar (1809), Virat Kohli (1475)VVS Laxman (1236), Rahul Dravid (1143)

Most wickets (overall): Nathan Lyon (123), Ravichandran Ashwin (115)Anil Kumble (111), Harbhajan Singh (95), Ravindra Jadeja (89)

Most wickets (in Australia): Nathan Lyon (62)Kapil Dev (51), Anil Kumble (49), Josh Hazlewood (47), Mitch Starc (46)

Possible setups

Australia: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

After a 10-wicket win, Australia will be keen to change as little as possible. That being said, if Josh Hazlewood is deemed fully fit, he will replace Scott Boland in the XI, despite Boland's impressive return with the pink ball.

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Both India's batting and bowling looked vulnerable in Adelaide and both will be questioned this week.

Do it captain Rohit Sharma return to open or stay at number 6? Harshit Rana was very ineffective in the second Test which went wicketless, so India could be forced to make a change there. Ravichandran Ashwin was okay in Adelaide, but with India having so many quality spin options, he could lose his place to both Ravindra Jadejain what would be his first run for the series, or Washington Sundarwho played well in India's win at the Gabba in 2021.

jasprit bumrah had a very minor groin problem this week, but trained on Thursday and can play straight away.

Can I still get tickets?

The Adelaide Oval was packed with fans and you can expect more of the same at the Gabba as the series heats up! General Admission availability is running out fast, but click here to see what you can buy.

Fans will be treated to an Indian-inspired festival at the Gabba Precinct on days 1 and 2 of the Test. Click here for more information about the celebration of world-class food, music, dance, art and of course cricket.

Broadcast information

Australian audiences will once again be able to watch every ball of this summer's Test series, either for free on Channel Seven and its digital streaming platform 7plus, or for free during play and in 4K on Foxtel and You exercise.

These are the commentators you can expect on the various broadcasters during the Test series:

Seven & 7plus: Greg Blewett, James Brayshaw, Trent Copeland, Aaron Finch (first two tests only), Damien Fleming, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden (first three tests only), Simon Katich, Rachel Khawaja, Tim Lane, Justin Langer, Mel McLaughlin, Alison Mitchell , Alister Nicholson, Ricky Ponting and Simon Taufel.

Foxtel and you: Harsha Bhogle, Allan Border, Adam Gilchrist, Isa Guha, Mark Howard, Mike Hussey, Brendon Julian, Brett Lee, Kath Loughnan, Kerry O'Keefe, Ravi Shastri, Michael Vaughan, David Warner, Mark Waugh

Kayo Sports and 7plus will both offer options to listen to Hindi commentary for this summer's Tests. Foxtel has introduced new technological innovations such as interactive 4D replays, a 600 frames per second ultra-slow motion camera dubbed 'the Emperor', and the use of AI to improve ball tracking data.

If you are not yet on board with Kayo Sports, sign up here

If radio is more your thing, the ABC, Triple M and SEN are all broadcasting the Test matches this summer, all of which can be heard via the CA Live app. The BBC and SEN NZ will also provide audio for listeners in those countries.

World Test Championship Update

There are four parties competing for two places in the WTC Final, which will be held in June next year.

If Australia win two of the remaining three Tests in this series, that will be enough to see them progress. India must win all the remaining Tests to guarantee their place in the decider, leaving anything else out of their hands. Click here for a detailed analysis of the WTC run home.

Form guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: draw

Australia: WLWWLWWWL

Australia stormed back into form in the second Test and have now recorded seven wins from the past nine Tests.

India: LWLLLWWWWW

India started the series perfectly with a comfortable win inside four days in Perth but now have several questions to answer after a humbling defeat in Adelaide.