It's not often that Australia have been made to sweat in home Test summer but it's thrice in a row that the culprits have been familiar, India. The schedule of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy was designed in a way for India to be 0-3 going into the final two games in Melbourne and Sydney, slightly familiar territories.
The series being 1-1 can be used as a reason to pat the back but after Perth, the Indian team will have to admit that the performances haven't been up to scratch. Yes, there was fightback on show at the Gabba after being put under pressure but still there are question marks and with the team in a must-win situation for a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, there will be no coming back from here.
Australia have already named their playing XI. Yes, Josh Hazlewood's absence will be huge but as skipper Pat Cummins said, Scott Boland slotting in straightaway and seamlessly is a luxury very few teams have. Sam Konstas is set to make his debut and top-order runs will be a key area for improvement for the hosts if they have to get to Sydney with a 2-1 scoreline.
India are expected to make a few tweaks as well, personnel as well as to their combination and once again they will be relying on Jasprit Bumrah to get them early wickets. The challenge for India will be to support KL Rahul in batting as every other batter apart from that Perth fightback has practically been absent and similarly in the bowling department for Bumrah, who even if he may not admit, has been having to do the heavy lifting.
With the drop-in surface in Melbourne, you can't really predict who has the upper hand but India would be keen to throw the first punch to gain some early advantage, something which they lacked in Adelaide as well as Brisbane.
My Dream11 team for AUS vs IND 4th Test
Travis Head, KL Rahul (c), Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Sam Konstas, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Pat Cummins, Scott Boland
Probable Playing XIs
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill/Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammed Siraj
