All you need to know for the Border-Gavaskar Gabba Test

Match details

Who: Australia v India

What: Third NRMA Insurance Test Match

When: 14-18 December, 2024, first ball at 10:20am local time (11:20am AEDT, 5:50am IST)

Where: The Gabba, Brisbane, Queensland

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

Live scores: Match Centre

Officials: Richard Illingworth and Richard Kettleborough (field), Chris Gaffaney (third), Donovan Koch (fourth), Ranjan Madugalle (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, Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, 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, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal

No changes to either squad between the second and third Tests, with both sides feeling extra rested given the Adelaide Test didn't even reach its scheduled halfway point. 

The big question for Australia will be whether or not Josh Hazlewood is back to full fitness after missing the second Test with a side strain. For India, there have been murmurings that Mohammed Shami will be jumping on a plane to join the squad, but there has been no movement on that front. The star quick has played one first-class match and nine T20s since returning from ankle surgery. 

Local knowledge

With 33 years at the venue without a loss, the Gabba was Australia's most successful venue until India visiting on their last tour in 2020-21. 

In the Covid-riddled tour that saw the four-match series' final match be played in Brisbane, a severely undermanned India, led by stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane, pulled off one of the great upsets with a three-wicket win. It's India's only win at the Gabba from the seven Tests they've played there.

Since India ended Australia's streak, the Aussies have since lost to the West Indies (2023-24) at the Gabba as well, leaving their recent record standing at two wins (over England and South Africa) and two losses. 

Session Times

First Session: 10:20am – 12:20pm (11:20am – 1:20pm AEDT; 5:50am – 7:50am IST)

 

Second Session: 1:00pm – 3:00pm (2:00pm – 4:00pm AEDT; 8:30am – 10:30am IST)

 

Third Session: 3:20pm – 5:20pm (4:20pm – 6:20pm AEDT; 10:50am – 12:50pm 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: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

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.

• Australia have lost only one of their last five men’s Tests against India (W3 D1) despite losing the coin toss four times in that span
• Australia haven't won back-to-back Test matches against India since December 2014
• Australia lost by three wickets in their last men’s Test against India at the Gabba (January 2021) after being undefeated against them at the venue prior to that result (W5 D1); indeed, India are one of only four teams against whom Australia has lost at the venue (also New Zealand, West Indies and England)
• Australia haven’t lost back-to-back matches at the Gabba since November 1986 - they were defeated by West Indies by eight runs in their last outing at the venue (Jan 2024)
• India have lost six of their past 12 men’s Tests away from home (W5 D1) and will be out to avoid back-to-back defeats in away Tests for the first time since July 2022
• India have scored 53.1 per cent of their runs in men’s Tests in 2024 via boundaries, the highest rate of any team; however, they have also conceded 55.6 per cent of their runs through boundaries which is the highest rate of any team
• India have had only one century-maker in their past seven first innings; that was Ravichandran Ashwin would tonned up against Bangladesh in Chennai
• Nathan Lyon has dismissed Rohit Sharma nine times in Tests, two more times than any other player in the format, while teammate Pat Cummins (five times) has dismissed Rohit Sharma the equal third most times of any bowler
• Virat Kohli (1,475) is just 25 runs away from becoming the second India batter to score 1,500 runs in men’s Tests in Australia (Sachin Tendulkar 1,809), while only Jack Hobbs (nine) has scored more Test centuries in Australia than Kohli (seven) among visiting batters
• Mitch Starc has taken 47 wickets in men’s Tests at the Gabba, the fourth-most of any bowler (Glenn McGrath 68, Shane Warne 65, Nathan Lyon 51); he’s taken at least one wicket in nine of his past 10 innings there
• Mitch Starc has taken 369 wickets in his Test career placing his 23rd overall, he needs 14 more to match Ian Botham (383) to enter the top 20 all-time Test wicket-takers 
• Jasprit Bumrah has dismissed seven batters within the first 20 balls of their innings in this men’s Test series between Australia and India, more than any other bowler
• Mohammed Siraj has bowled 52 balls to Travis Head in the series so far, with the Australian scoring 52 runs (at a strike rate of exactly 100) while losing his wicket only once
• Shubman Gill (91) and Rishabh Pant (89no) were instrumental in India's win at the Gabba in 2021; in fact only Greg Chappell (109no in 1975) has a higher score in a winning fourth-innings chase at the venue

Head-to-Head

Overall: Australia 46 wins, India 33 wins, 29 draws, one tie

In Australia: Australia 31 wins, India 10 wins, 13 draws

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

Most runs (overall): Sachin Tendulkar (3630), Ricky Ponting (2555), VVS Laxman (2434), Virat Kohli (2165), Rahul Dravid (2143)

Most runs (in Australia): Ricky Ponting (1893), Sachin Tendulkar (1809), Virat Kohli (1475), VVS Laxman (1236), Rahul Dravid (1143)

Most wickets (overall): Nathan Lyon (123), Ravichandran Ashwin (115), Anil Kumble (111), Harbhajan Singh (95), Ravindra Jadeja (89)

Most wickets (in Australia): Nathan Lyon (62), Kapil Dev (51), Anil Kumble (49), Josh Hazlewood (47), Mitch Starc (46)

Possible line-ups

Australia: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Coming off a 10-wicket win Australia will be keen to change as little as possible. That being said, if Josh Hazlewood is deemed fully fit he will replace Scott Boland in the XI, despite Boland's impressive return with the pink ball. 

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

Both India's batting and bowling looked vulnerable in Adelaide and both will be brought into question this week.

Does captain Rohit Sharma return to open or stay at No.6? Harshit Rana was very ineffective in the second Test going wicketless, so India might be forced to make a change there. Ravichandran Ashwin was ok in Adelaide, but considering India have so many quality spin options, he may lose his spot to either Ravindra Jadeja, in what would be his first run for the series, or Washington Sundar, who played well in India's win at the Gabba in 2021. 

Jasprit Bumrah has carried a very minor groin issue this week but trained on Thursday and will be right to play. 

Can I still get tickets?

The Adelaide Oval was packed with fans and you can expect more of the same at the Gabba as the series heats up! General admission availability is fast running out but click here to see what you can snap up. 

Fans will be treated to an Indian-inspired festival on the Gabba Precinct across days 1 and 2 of the Test. Click here for more information on the celebration of food, music, dance, art and of course, world-class cricket.

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 two of the remaining three Tests in this series, that'll be enough to see them progress. India must win all the remaining Tests to guarantee their spot in the decider, anything less leaves their fate out of their hands. Click here for a detailed analysis of the WTC run home.

Form Guide

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

Australia: WLWWLWWWWL

Australia stormed back into form in the second Test and now have seven wins from their past nine Tests. 

India: LWLLLWWWWW

India started the series perfectly with a comfortable win inside four days in Perth but now have several questions to answer after a humbling defeat in Adelaide.