India v/s Australia, 4th Test, Day 1, Sydney: Tough day for Indian bowlers as Smith-Watson continue to bat; take Australia to 348/2

5:57 IST
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Good opportunity for India to play two spinners in this Sydney test.
There are three changes in the Indian squad- Saha, Raina, Rohit and Bhuvneshwar are in for Dhoni, Dhawan, Pujara and Ishant.
10 overs- 56/0.
Rogers- 23 off 31, Warner- 27 off 29 balls
Australia won the toss and elected to bat
The final test in the Border- Gavaskar Trophy will start in a while. Australia have already sealed the series but this final match will be anything but mere formality. 
For Aussies, it will be a gut wrenching affair to comeback to Sydney, where tragedy struck a fatal blow to Phill Hughes on 25th November. For Indians, it will be sort of a new beginning, with Virat Kohli captaining the side permanently for the first time in place of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who decided to hang up his gloves after the third test. 
Australia have already announced their first 11. Mitchell Starc will replace injured Mitchell Johnson. Sydney track has traditionally helped spinners and this time it is likely to behave similarly. However it is unlikely to deter the mighty Aussies, who have won 10 of their last 11 outings here. The Indian side will surely see one change with Wriddhiman Saha finally getting a chance to come out of imposing shadow of Dhoni. Other than that, Suresh Rainamay replace KL Rahul, who had an abysmal first test. It will be interesting to see if Kohli persists with Ashwin as his lead spinner. If fit, Bhuvneshwar Kumar may also be part of the final 11. 
Although the scoreline reads 0-2, Indians have been competitive in this test series. They failed to capitalise on crucial moments conceding advantage to the hosts. The batting particularly has looked solid with Vijay, Kohli and Rahane all finding rich vein of form. The bowling though has been a major dissapointment. India will like to pull one back, to get much needed confidence ahead of tri-series and World Cup next month. 

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