All you need to know for the Boxing Day Test

Match details

Who: Australia v India

What: Fourth NRMA Insurance Test Match

When: 26-30 December, 2024, first ball at 10:30am AEDT, 5am IST

Where: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria

How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports, Channel 7 and 7Plus

Live scores: Match Centre

Player of the Match receives the Johnny Mullagh Medal

Officials: Joel Wilson and Michael Gough (field), Sharfuddoula Saikat (third), Shawn Craig (fourth), Andy Pycroft (referee)

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app and the Unplayable Podcast. Listen and subscribe to the podcast below.

The Squads

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

 

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal

Australia's selectors pulled the trigger on a massive change after the Gabba draw, ditching opener Nathan McSweeney and calling up uncapped 19-year-old Sam Konstas. It means after months of searching for an opener to replace David Warner, Australia is essentially back to square one after three Tests of this series. The question remains, will Konstas come straight in to be Australia's youngest batter debutant since Ian Craig in 1953, and the youngest Aussie ever to open the batting.

Josh Hazlewood also drops out of the Australia squad after his calf injury at the Gabba that has curtailed his summer. 

For India, the only change to their squad has been Ravichandaran Ashwin after the spinner announced a shock international retirement, effective immediately, following the Brisbane Test after he was left out of the XI in Perth and Brisbane. There continue to be murmurings that Mohammed Shami could yet come out to join the squad, but the fast bowler has been struggling with swelling in his knees after playing domestic cricket and at this stage they aren't prepared to risk him. That may change for Sydney, depending on how the Boxing Day Test pans out. 

Local knowledge

The spiritual home of Australian cricket and the biggest date on the calendar, this will be an epic occassion. 

Of course, India are reasonably well versed with playing at the MCG, having played regularly at the venue in recent years, including that epic T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan in front of 90,293 fans. 

India's last Test at the venue was in December 2020 during a Covid-riddled tour that saw a side captained by Ajinkya Rahane storm to an eight-wicket win that levelled the series following their capitulation in the previous Test for 36 all out. 

And just have a look at that average from Steve Smith for matches played here in the past 10 years! Only Bradman averages more at the MCG from batters to have played at least five Tests at the venue. For the record, The Don hit 1,671 runs at 128.53 in his 11 Tests at the mighty MCG, with nine centuries. Smith has four tons, and the Aussies would dearly love him to add another this week. 

Session Times

First Session: 10:30am – 12:30pm AEDT (5am – 7am IST)

 

Second Session: 1:10pm – 3:10pm AEDT (7:40am – 9:40am IST

 

Third Session: 3:30pm – 5:30pm AEDT (10am – 12pm IST)

 

* An extra 30 minutes can be used to complete daily overs

The full series schedule

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

nbn Fast Facts

Great things happen fast on nbn – cricket.com.au has compiled the following facts to prepare you for the game, fast. Do great things with nbn.

• Scott Boland has 117 first class wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since he debuted in the Sheffield Shield in 2011, which is 43 more than any other player has at the venue in that time. He’s taken 10 wickets at an average of 13.8 across his four Test innings at the venue.
• Jasprit Bumrah is six away from reaching 200 Test wickets, a feat previously managed by only 11 other India bowlers. He has taken at least three wickets in five of his last six innings against Australia and has the best bowling average against them of any India bowler (minimum four innings).
• Virat Kohli has been dismissed for single figures on eight occasions in Tests in 2024, more times than he had been across the previous three years combined.
• Steve Smith is 191 runs away from becoming the fourth Australian to reach 10,000 Test runs overall. He’s scored 191 runs or more in a Test six times in his career including once at the MCG (192 vs India in December 2014).
• Australia were undefeated in their first seven Boxing Day Tests against India (W5 D2) but have lost their two most recent clashes in 2018 and 2020.
• Australia’s last win in a Boxing Day Test against India was in 2011 when they won by 122 runs – Nathan Lyon and Virat Kohli are the only players from that match to feature in the squads for this current series.
• Since India’s last win in 2020, Australia have won their past three Boxing Day Tests – two by a margin of more than an innings. The last time they won more consecutive Boxing Day Tests was a nine-game streak between 1999 and 2007.
• India have won only one of their past six Tests (D1 L4) after winning six in a row in the format prior to that, while 2024 (L5) is the first time since 2018 (L7) that they’ve lost more than three matches in a calendar year.
• Sri Lanka (46.5) are the only team with a better batting average against spin in Tests in 2024 than Australia (38.4)
• India batters have a strike rate of 59 on the first 20 balls faced of their innings in Tests in 2024, the second-highest rate of any team behind only England (66)
• Australia have dismissed 27 batters within the first 20 balls faced across their last three Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Head-to-Head

Overall: Australia 46 wins, India 33 wins, 30 draws, one tie

In Australia: Australia 31 wins, India 10 wins, 14 draws

Past 10 years: Australia eight wins (5H, 2A, 1N) India nine wins (4H, 5A), seven draws (5 in Aus, 2 in India)

Most runs (overall): Sachin Tendulkar (3630), Ricky Ponting (2555), VVS Laxman (2434), Virat Kohli (2168), Steve Smith (2166)

Most runs (in Australia): Ricky Ponting (1893), Sachin Tendulkar (1809), Virat Kohli (1478), VVS Laxman (1236), Steve Smith (1206)

Most wickets (overall): Nathan Lyon (124), Ravichandran Ashwin (115), Anil Kumble (111), Harbhajan Singh (95), Ravindra Jadeja (89)

Most wickets (in Australia): Nathan Lyon (63), Jasprit Bumrah (53), Kapil Dev (51), Pat Cummins (49), Mitch Starc (49), Anil Kumble (49)

Possible line-ups

Australia: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

There's going to be at least two changes for Australia, with Nathan McSweeney dropped from the squad and Josh Hazlewood out of the series with a calf injury. Coming into the squad is 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas who is in line for Baggy Green cap No.468 on Boxing Day, while Scott Boland is all-but certain to play his second match of the series, at the venue where he burst onto the international scene with that unforgettable 6-7 against England three sumers ago.

But there's plenty of attention on the faltering Aussie top six, and more changes could be coming. Josh Inglis remains waiting in the wings as the squad's spare batter, while Beau Webster is champing at the bit to collect a Baggy Green of his own should Mitch Marsh's form lead selectors to make another change.

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah 

Ravindra Jadeja's batting was crucial in India avoiding the follow-on at the Gabba, which may well have proved match-saving, and surely holds his spot for the series after missing out in Perth and Adelaide. KL Rahul hit an important 84 at the top of the order but the continued struggles of captain Rohit Sharma in his new role in the middle order are an issue. Rohit suffered a painful knock to his knee at training on Sunday, raising speculation among the touring media pack that Jasprit Bumrah could take the captaincy again, but that seems premature. Of bigger concern for India might be the reliance upon Bumrah, who has 21 of the 47 Australian wickets taken so far this series, and has at times looked to be struggling with the workload, having carried a minor groin issue through the series. Prasidh Krishna was a handful at the MCG for India A in the pre-series clash, and could be a contender to come into the XI here, likely for Akash Deep given India will still want the batting insurance the impressive Nitish Kumar Reddy offers. 

 

Can I still get tickets?

We are set for a monster Boxing Day Test crowd, and all public tickets have been sold out for day one. If the members turn out, we could be on for a record crowd, with the weather set to be a scorcher. General admission availability for other days is in hot demand but in a stadium the size of the MCG there are tickets to be found for all days. Click here to see what you can snap up. 

Fans will be treated to an Indian-inspired festival in the Yarra Parklands surrounding the MCG across first three days of the Test. Click here for more information on the celebration of food, music, dance, art and of course, world-class cricket.

And if you're coming, don't forget to grab yourself a wide brim floppy hat. Every day at 3:50pm the stands will rise to tip the wide brim in honour of the late, great Shane Keith Warne.

The King's legacy still looms large over Boxing Day, not least with the 52 free health check stations that will be in operation around the MCG, including 12 blood testing stations. These quick, simple finger-prick tests assess key cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors.

Broadcast info

Australian audiences will once again be able to watch every ball of this summer’s Test series either free-to-air on Channel Seven and its digital streaming platform 7plus, or ad-break free during play and in 4K on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.

Here’s the commentators you can expect to hear across the different broadcasters during the Test series:

Seven & 7plus: Greg Blewett, James Brayshaw, Trent Copeland, Aaron Finch (first two Tests only), Damien Fleming, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden (first three Tests only), Simon Katich, Rachel Khawaja, Tim Lane, Justin Langer, Mel McLaughlin, Alison Mitchell, Alister Nicholson, Ricky Ponting and Simon Taufel.

Foxtel & Kayo: Harsha Bhogle, Allan Border, Adam Gilchrist, Isa Guha, Mark Howard, Mike Hussey, Brendon Julian, Brett Lee, Kath Loughnan, Kerry O'Keefe, Ravi Shastri, Michael Vaughan, David Warner, Mark Waugh

Kayo Sports and 7plus will both feature options to listen to Hindi commentary for this summer’s Tests. Foxtel has introduced new technological innovations such as interactive 4D replays, a 600 frame-per-second ultra-slow-motion camera dubbed 'the emperor', and using AI to enhance ball-tracking data.

If you’re not already on board with Kayo Sports, sign up here

If radio is more your thing, then the ABC, Triple M and SEN will all be broadcasting the Test matches this summer, all of which can be listened to through the CA Live app. The BBC and SEN NZ will also be carrying audio for listeners in those countries.

World Test Championship update

It's down to four sides battling it out for the two spots in the WTC Final, to be held in June next year. 

If Australia go on to win in both Melbourne and Sydney, that'll be enough to see them progress before they head to Sri Lanka for a two-Test series starting in late January. The draw at the Gabba, however, means India must win the final two Tests against Australia or fate will be out of their hands. 

Form Guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: draw   

Australia: DWLWWLWWWW

Australia will feel frustrated by the rain in the Gabba after dominating the match but have seven wins from their past nine Tests and enter Boxing Day on a roll. 

India: DLWLLLWWWW

India started the series perfectly with a comfortable win inside four days in Perth but suffered a humbling defeat in Adelaide and were outplayed for the vast majority of the Gabba Test, evidenced by how jovially they celebrated sneaking past the follow-on mark in the rain-interrupted event.