Fri Dec 06 04:10:00 UTC 2024: ## Rohit Sharma Returns to Lead India in Adelaide Day-Night Test Against Australia
**Adelaide, Australia:** Captain Rohit Sharma returned to lead India in the second Test of the high-profile five-match series against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Sharma missed the first Test in Perth due to the birth of his second child. His return to the team saw three players – Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, and Dhruv Jurel – dropped from the playing XI. Replacing them are Sharma himself, Shubman Gill (recovering from a thumb injury), and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left out of the first Test due to Sundar’s inclusion.
India, riding high on a 295-run victory in the first Test in Perth, aims to extend its 1-0 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India has a strong record in Australia, having won the last two series (both 2-1) in 2018-19 and 2020-21. Overall, India leads the head-to-head record in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 10 series wins to Australia’s 5, with one draw.
A 4-0 series victory is crucial for India to secure a place in the World Test Championship final in June 2025 at Lord’s.
**Playing XIs:**
**India:** Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
**Australia:** Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
First Piper 