AUS vs IND 2024-25: Why are Ravichandran Ashwin, and Harshit Rana not playing third Test?

India made two strategic changes to their playing XI after a loss to Australia in the second Test in Adelaide. Harshit Rana, who was highly impressive in the first Test in Perth, failed to live up to expectations in the second game in Adelaide. He conceded 86 runs off 16 overs in the first innings of the Adelaide Test, and keeping that in mind, the team management decided to hand a break to the youngster and call back Akash Deep to the playing XI. 

Besides that, Ravichandran Ashwin has also been dropped from the playing XI. The star spinner was rested in the first Test in Perth as the visitors preferred Washington Sundar, especially after his exploits in the series against New Zealand. However, Ashwin replaced Sundar in the second game but wasn’t very effective with the Pink Ball. That prompted the team management to bring Ravindra Jadeja back into the Gabba Test set-up.

India will be playing three different spinners in the first three Test matches of the series. The team management needs to consider a lack of consistency, especially while touring for a high-voltage series.

Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first at Gabba. He noted that the conditions are overcast and there’s a little bit of grass on the deck, which promoted him to take the decision. The 37-year-old also highlighted that it's been a competitive series so far but they are looking to bounce back after a defeat in Adelaide.

“We're going to bowl first. Little bit overcast and little bit of grass, looks a bit soft as well, want to make best use of the conditions. Lot of cricket to be played, both teams have played good cricket in the last two games. Big game for us here, we'll do what is expected of us. We'll play good cricket, we understand we have to capture some moments, we didn't do that in the previous game which is why we lost,” Rohit said during the toss.

Australia, on the other hand, made one change to their playing XI. Josh Hazlewood, who missed the second Test owing to a side strain replaced Scott Boland.

Playing XI of Australia and India:

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

Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.