The Indian team will be buoyed by a brilliant eight-wicket win in the Boxing Day Test and will go into the third Test in Sydney full of confidence. The "josh" among the players seems to be quite high, which was evident in a video posted by BCCI Twitter handle on Saturday. In the video, the players seemed to be high spirits while taking part in a fielding drill. With the series level at 1-1 after the first two matches, the third Test will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), starting January 7.
India had lost the first Test in Adelaide following the much-talked about batting collapse, which saw the team register its lowest score in Test cricket -- 36/9 in the second innings.
With Virat Kohli returning home, Mohammed Shami injured and Rohit Sharma still in quarantine, few expected India to get back on level terms in Melbourne. But they did just that.
Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane not showed his smarts with his captaincy but also shone with the bat, scoring a fine century in the first innings to lead India's charge.
Australian top order, which is yet to fire, once again found their backs to the wall, tested time and again by the Indian bowling lineup, led by Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin.
India won the Test by eight wickets to square the series.
Ahead of the first Test, India have received mixed news with pacer Umesh Yadav ruled out of the last two Tests due to injury, but the Indian squad has been bolstered by the return of Rohit Sharma, who has replaced Cheteshwar Pujara as the vice-captain.