IND vs AUS Pitch Report: The Indian cricket team will look to avoid a series loss when they take on a highly-motivated Australian side in the fifth Test match starting on Friday early morning. Australia will eye a WTC 2025 final spot with a potential win against India and will enter as clear favourites after impressive performances in the Melbourne Test.
After winning the first Test, Rohit Sharma's side has gone winless in the next three games and are trailing 1-2 in the five-match series. Both teams are expected to make changes to their playing eleven for the New Year's Test as some players seem tired after a non-stop action in BGT 2024-25.
Mitchell Marsh has been dropped and Akash Deep is ruled out due to a back injury. The uncapped fast-bowling all-rounder Beau Webster is set for his international debut but the Indian side is yet to reveal their playing eleven for the last match of the series.
IND vs AUS 5th Test pitch report
The pitch at Sydney Cricket Ground offers a pace-friendly surface in red-ball cricket. Fans can expect a similar kind of wicket they witnessed at MCG in the last match. The pitch curator has already hinted at green grass and moisture in the wickets on the opening day of the match.
"So we're two days out now, getting to the final stages of the prep. We’ve taken the covers off this morning, given a cut of about 7mm and giving it a nice roll today, nice pressing," said pitch curator Adam Lewis in a video shared by the SCG’s official X handle. "Really happy with where it’s at. Giving it a little flick of water, it's very hot in Sydney today, so we'll just keep the moisture there at the top. And then tomorrow, we'll do a little bit more heavier rolling, take a little bit of the colour out, then we should be ready to go for the third (morning).”
The average first innings score at SCG is 318 with teams batting first winning 47 of 114 Test matches played here. Earlier in 2024, Australia hosted Pakistan in the last Test match played at this venue, where the fast bowlers Aamer Jamal and Pat Cummins dominated the game.
Sydney Cricket Ground Test numbers
Matches played - 114
Matches won batting first - 47
Matches won bowling first - 43
Average 1st innings score - 318
Average 2nd innings score - 311
Average 3rd innings score - 249
Average 4th innings score - 169
Highest total - 705/7 by India vs Australia in 2004
Lowest total - 42/10 by Australia vs England in 1888
IND vs AUS 5th Test Predicted Playing XIs
India Playing XI - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia Playing XI - Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
