Australia vs India 2018-19: 3 things India need to do to ensure a series win Down Under
The Perth Test has concluded with Australia emerging on top, defeating India by 146 runs. The Indian batsmen failed to deliver while the Australian bowlers stood tall, and the result wasn't in much doubt once the visitors were set a target of 287 in the fourth innings.
With all the momentum on Australia's side entering the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, India would be looking to make major changes in order to win remaining the matches and seal the series.
This loss will be a wake-up call for Virat Kohli to reconsider his strategies and arrive at the best combination which would also help the team in the long run. As many experts have mentioned earlier, this is India's best chance to win a series in Australia; it's now or never for Team India.
Prithvi Shaw, who was dubbed as the X-factor for the Indian team on this tour, has ruled out of the entire series due to an ankle injury. With that in mind, Mayank Agarwal, the prolific Karnataka opener, and Hardik Pandya have been included in the squad.
The major issues that need to be sorted out are the openers, the bowlers' inability to clean the tail up quickly and most importantly, the team management's peculiar selection decisions.
Here, we will look at the top 3 changes that India need to make in order to win this series.
3) Ravindra Jadeja in; Hanuma Vihari out
If Ashwin is unable to recover from his injury in time, India would need a specialist spinner in the team. And that has definitely got to be Ravindra Jadeja.
In recent times, Jadeja has been performing exceptionally well. Apart from being one of the best fielders in the world, he is pretty handy with the bat and can get you crucial breakthroughs whenever required.
Adding Jadeja would increase India's batting depth, which was almost non-existent in the Perth Test. I would pick him instead of the recently included Hardik Pandya because the Indian seam department is already jam-packed and the team desperately needs a spinner who can be effective - like Australia's Nathan Lyon.
With Jadeja balancing the lower order, Rishabh Pant can be promoted up to No. 6 as he is often stuck around batting with tailenders, which prevents him from bring out his best.