Clashing Teams- India and Australia

Date- 1st March to 5th March

Time- 09:30 A.M (IST)

Venue- Holkar Stadium, Indore

Live Telecast- Star Sports Network and Hotstar App

India

The third Test between India (IND) and Australia (AUS) will take place at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore, starting on Wednesday, Match 1. India have already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, courtesy of an unassailable 2-0 lead in this series. While their top order hasn't fired in unison, India's all-round trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel have delivered at the time of need in this series. For India, Axar Patel scored crucial 74 runs in the first innings and while Cheteshawar Pujara added 31* off 74 in the second innings to guide India to a six-wicket win.

With the trophy in possession, team India will be eager to achieve their first-ever whitewash against Australia. While their top order hasn't fired in unison, India's all-round trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel have delivered at the time of need in this series. Cheteshwar Pujara will be playing with Virat Kohli in third position. Though the stars are not with Virat Kohli after the way he was given out in the first innings, he has scored a double-century at this venue. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack for India.

Australia

Although they are without their captain Pat Cummins and opener David Warner, Australia have some experience to fall back on in the likes of Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon. Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb scored big fifties in Australia's first innings, but the others struggled for big knocks against the Indian spin attack.  Khwaja scored 81 runs in the first innings of the second test. Marnus Labuschagne will be our choice for the top batter from the Aussie side.

The Indore Test will see Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green's return from the injuries. Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, and Alex Carrey will play in the middle order with Green. Handscomb and Carrey must keep their wickets, as no one can bat long below them. Cameroon Green will return after breaking his thumb in the earlier test series. Australia tried 3 spinners and one pacer combination in the last game. Stand-in skipper Steve Smith will probably opt for the same, seeing 13 out of 14 Indian wickets taken by the spinners.

Topbets Prediction

Team India is high on confidence with back-to-back wins against Australia. They have already had their hands on the Border Gavaskar Trophy, and now their ultimate aim will be to qualify for the WTC Final comfortably. India has 4 wins, and 1 draw in the last 5 tests played against Australia. They haven’t lost a Test at home for the last 2 years.  We predict that India will defeat Australia.

Market Odds (As on 08:10 P.M)

Top Batsman For India-Rohit Sharma- Indian captain top-scored 120 off 212 in the first innings of the first match in Nagpur. This was his back-to-back century after scoring a hundred against New Zealand in the third ODI last month.

Top Batsman For Australia- Steve Smith- The star Australian batter scored 37 off 107 in the first innings and added an unbeaten 25 in the second innings while his team collapsed on just 91 runs.

Probable Playing XI For The Match

India- Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Australia- David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw/Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland/Ashton Agar