Indian players walk off the field after losing the fourth test cricket match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake Indian players walk off the field after losing the fourth test cricket match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake

India are trailing by 1-2 in the five-match Test series and desperately need a win in the final Test match against Australia to keep their hopes of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025 alive. (More Cricket News)diamond game

Sydney Cricket Ground is ready to host the final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series starting on Friday, 3 January 2025. India have a lot of things going on in their dressing room and might go with a completely different playing XI in the last Test match.

"I want to become a coach. That was always my plan but now there is a question of when. After retirement, family comes first. I need to talk with them if they are OK with this. Now you have to listen to your wife a little bit," Sreejesh told PTI editors at its headquarters here on Tuesday.

A week back, Vinesh scripted history at the Paris Olympics by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final.

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India head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to reveal the playing XI before the match day when asked during a press conference on the eve of the Sydney Test. He also said nothing about the possibility of captain Rohit Sharma playing in Sydney.

There are rumours that Rohit might not be selected for the final Test and may call time on his red-ball career after the match. In that case, Jasprit Bumrah is the obvious choice to lead the team. He led the team in Perth and helped register India, their only win in the series.

Australia have added Beau Webster in the playing XI in place of the struggling all-rounder Mitch Marsh. Webster is set to make his Test debut in Sydney on Friday.

Australia Playing XI and India Squad for 5th Test

Australia (Playing XI): Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Tanush Kotian, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana

As the Indian team is trying to figure out their weakness and work on them, let's take a look at three key player battles to watch out for from the final Test match

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal Vs Mitchell Starc

Indian opener has played some courageous knocks on his first tour of Australia. After his 161 in Perth, he looked out of control and played some irresponsible shots but that was all because of the sheer brilliance of Mitchell Starc. Australian spearhead has created problems for him in many innings and has dismissed him four times in this series. Jaiswal has managed to score 107 runs off 179 balls against Starc in this series and the battle between the two is looking interesting and will be a treat to watch in Sydney as well.

2. Steve Smith Vs Jasprit Bumrah

Steve Smith's batting in Test against India is the best among any Australian batter. He has already struck two tons and played many impactful knocks in this series. But he will be trying to take on Jasprit Bumrah who has taken 30 wickets in four Test matches in this series so far and will be a lethal force for India in the final Test match in Sydney.

3. Virat Kohli Vs Pat Cummins

Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli has failed to play any impactful knock in this series after his ton in Perth which came in the second innings. Pat Cumminsdiamond game, on the other hand, has been a consistent force for Australia and has taken at least a wicket in all the innings he has bowled in this series. Australia have been bowling consistently at the fourth-fifth stump for Kohli and getting him 'knicked behind'. The same plan must be followed in Sydney and Kohli will have to come prepared for these questions.

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