Dec 26: Australia vs India, 2nd Test, Melbourne

Pro Tip: With several Indian players missing this game, expect Australia to dominate. Make sure you have enough of them in your line-up.

Our XI: Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Marnus Labuschagne, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah.

Substitutes: Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Nathan Lyon, Cameron Green

Player availability: Australia's David Warner, Sean Abbott and Will Pucovski are not available for this game. Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami are not available for India due to personal and injury reasons respectively. Ravindra Jadeja will be available for India after recovering from an injury.

We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so please finalise your team after the toss.

Captain: Marnus Labuschagne

The top-scorer in the on-going 2019-21 Test Championship, Labuschagne has scored 1302 runs in ten games at an average of 76.58. He has been in good form since the resumption of cricket amid Covid-19, scoring a couple of centuries in the initial two rounds of the Sheffield Shield 2020.

Vice-captain: Steve Smith

Smith has been nearly unstoppable since returning to the Test side in 2019, with 1030 runs in ten games at an average of 68.66. Since 2014 in Boxing day Tests, he has scored 845 runs in nine innings with four 100-plus scores.

Hot Picks

Cheteswar Pujara: The top-scorer by a mile in India's last tour to Australia in 2018, Pujara made 521 runs in four games with three 100-plus scores. The last time he played at the MCG, he scored a mammoth 319-ball 106 which helped India beat Australia.

Jasprit Bumrah: India's rising star Bumrah has not been his usual self in international cricket this year picking up only 21 wickets in 20 games at an average of 43.66 (across formats). However, he can bounce back. He was the leading wicket-taker in India's previous tour to Australia with 21 in four games at an average of 17.00.

Pat Cummins: The highest wicket-taker in Test cricket in 2019, Cummins picked up 59 in 12 games at an average of 20.13. MCG is his second favorite hunting ground having picked up 18 wickets in three games at an average of 16.16, including nine against India in 2018.

Differential Picks

Mayank Agarwal: In 2018, when India defeated Australia in Melbourne, Mayank Agarwal was the highest run scorer in the game with 76 and 42 and he did all that while on debut. He has been prolific ever since, scoring 1000 runs in 12 games at an average of 52.63.

Tim Paine: Among designated wicketkeeper batsman, he is the fourth-highest Test run-scorer since 2018 with 962 runs in 24 games at an average of 32.06. He has also affected 111 dismissals in Test cricket, the most in that period. He was awarded the Man of the Match in the last game for scoring an unbeaten 99-ball 73 and affecting seven dismissals behind the stumps.

Alternate Scenarios

• Nathan Lyon has only picked up four wickets in three Tests against India at MCG. He can only replace Cummins in this XI, due to credits availability.
• If Ravindra Jadeja is fit and available, he can replace R Ashwin. Since 2018, he averages 53.30 with the bat, which gives him the edge over Ashwin.