Australia confirm two changes for SCG

Australia have axed Aaron Finch and Mitch Marsh for the fourth Domain Test at the SCG, with Peter Handscomb and Marnus Labuschagne returning to the Test XI for the must-win clash with India.

India are batting first after captain Virat Kohli won the coin toss.

Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Pete Handscomb, Tim Paine (c, wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India XI: Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Queensland batsman Labuschagne has been named at No.3, with state teammate Usman Khawaja elevated to open alongside Marcus Harris, while Handscomb has replaced Marsh in the middle order to combat India's spinners on an SCG pitch that is expected to turn.

India have made two changes to their XI, with injured quick Ishant Sharma (officially suffering from 'rib cage discomfort') and batsman Rohit Sharma, who has returned home to Mumbai for the birth of his child, out of the side that claimed a 137-run win in the Boxing Day Test.

Opener KL Rahul has returned to partner Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order, with Hanuma Vihari shuffled back to the middle order to replace Rohit, while left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been included.

Ravichandran Ashwin, given until the morning of the match to prove his fitness, will not take his place in India’s XI. The 32-year-old suffered a side strain in the first Test in Adelaide and also missed the Tests in Perth and Melbourne.

Both Australia and India waited until Thursday’s coin toss to confirm their XIs, with Australia captain Tim Paine explaining on Wednesday the national selectors would make a call on the final XI after inspecting the pitch one last time on match eve.

Labuschange was dropped from Australia’s Test squad after scores of 0, 13, 25 and 45 against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in October, while Handscomb has been recalled after being left out of Australia’s Boxing Day XI.

"If we think India were to play two spinners Pete could be a really important player for us," Paine said on Wednesday.

"I'm sure if he does (play), he's an excellent player of spin and contributes a lot to the group in the field and around the team.

"He's a bit like Marnus in that he's a very good package, a good person around our team."

Labuschagne's inclusion in the XI is based not only on his batting, but also his ability to bowl part-time leg-spin, from which he captured seven wickets on his maiden Test tour in the UAE last October.

The SCG Test looms as one of the most important in India's history, with a win, draw or tie securing the nation's maiden Test series win on Australian soil.

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: India won by 137 runs

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar