|| India Correspondent ||
Team India have announced their playing eleven for the third Test and with no surprise, Rohit Sharma has returned to the top of the order for the high voltage game against Australia Test at Sydney starting tomorrow. He has replaced Mayank Agarwal in the squad whereas Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini will replace injured Umesh Yadav and all set to make his Test debut.
Meanwhile, Agarwal's exclusion was nearly decided after the opener failed to score in the first two Tests but including Saini, ahead of Shardul Thakur, who was on the verge of replacing Umesh in the playing XI was a bit of a surprise to everyone. However, another opener Shubman Gill has retained his place after having a great start and he will have a new partner in Rohit, who will be playing in Tests for the first time since November 2019 as he didn't feature in the first two Test of the four-match series due to his injury which he sustained during the IPL 2020 in UAE last year in November.
Meanwhile, uncertainty were also raised on Hanuma Vihari's place in the middle-order, but he managed to retain his place in the playing XI. Mohammad Siraj, who had a good debut at MCG, will be with Jasprit Bumrah and Saini for the pace attack.
"We are excited to have Rohit back, he is batting really well in the nets. Rohit will bat at the top of the order," captain Ajinkya Rahane had said about Rohit Sharma during the pre-match press conference.
India's Playing XI for the Third Test against Australia at Sydney:
Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Navdeep Saini