Australia received a big injury boost ahead of the second Test match against India on Monday. The star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh declared himself fit for the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Adelaide starting on December 6.
Marsh felt discomfort while bowling in the second innings of the Perth Test and seemed doubtful to recover on time for the second game. The managed added uncapped Tasmania all-rounder Beau Webster to their squad as a cover to Marsh but the latter has now cleared himself for the pink-ball Test.
Australian fans will welcome the news as they have already lost Josh Hazlewood to a side strain. Australia brought in Sean Abbott and uncapped Brendan Doggett as Hazlewood's replacements for the second squad but are likely to pick the experienced Scott Boland to partner Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in a fast-bowling attack.
Marsh is expected to start if manages to impress the management in training sessions. Apart from Hazlewood's replacement, Australia are unlikely to tinker with their playing eleven even after a huge 295-run loss in Perth.
Australia squad for 2nd Test vs India:
Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland, Sean Abbott, Beau Webster, Brendan Doggett.
Meanwhile, the Indian team will be at their full strength for the second match. Captain Rohit Sharma has joined the camp after missing the BGT opener due to the birth of his second child while Shubman Gill made a successful return from his finger injury with a fifty against Primer Minister's XI on Sunday.
The Indian management needs to brainstorm over their preferred playing XI for the second Test. Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel are likely to be dropped to make a way for Rohit and Shubman but the questions remain on KL Rahul's batting position in the playing XI.
India squad for 2nd Test vs Australia:
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran.
