Sat Dec 07 21:04:25 UTC 2024: **India Confident as Border-Gavaskar Trophy Second Test Begins in Adelaide**

Adelaide, Australia – Riding high on a dominant win in the first Test and a tour game victory, India enters the second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Friday, December 6th, with renewed confidence. Despite the absences of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in the Perth Test, India showcased impressive maturity to secure a 295-run victory. The return of Sharma and Gill to the playing XI is expected, with Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal likely making way.

However, Australia faces a setback with the injury-related absence of Josh Hazlewood, replaced by Scott Boland.

The Adelaide Test is forecast to have potentially challenging weather conditions. While the toss (9 AM IST) is expected to proceed with only a 15% chance of rain, there’s a higher probability of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon on the opening day. Subsequent days are expected to be mostly sunny, although light showers are possible on the fifth day.

The Adelaide pitch is expected to offer assistance to both swing bowlers and spinners, particularly in the twilight and night sessions. Given India’s strong pace attack, featuring Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Harshit Rana, Australia’s batters face a significant challenge.

The match will be broadcast live on Star Sports channels and streamed on Disney+ Hotstar from 9:20 AM IST. The predicted playing XIs are:

**India:** KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma (c), Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Mohammed Siraj.

**Australia:** Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.

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