India vs Australia

Warner was excluded from the squad that featured in the first two Tests, in Adelaide and Melbourne, following a groin injury he suffered during the second One-day International in Sydney last month. "David has made strong progress in his recovery from injury and will be given every chance to play in Sydney with another seven days until the match," said selector Trevor Hohns in a statement released by Cricket Australia.

By winning the second Test by eight wickets here, India drew parity, after losing the first one by a similar margin in Adelaide. Captain Virat Kohli has returned home after the first Test to be with his wife who is expecting their first child while Ajinkya Rahane is captaining it in the last three matches.

The SCG's eligibility to host the match was in some doubt because of a spike in Covid-19 cases on the northern beaches of Sydney. Hockley also expressed confidence that the fourth Test will be held as scheduled from January 15 in Brisbane. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, where India won the second Test on Tuesday to level the four-match series 1-1, was kept on standby as a potential venue for the third Test if it could not be held at the SCG.

"David (Warner) looks really good from what I have seen. He has obviously started training a bit and started running between the wickets. I think the early signs with him are very good for the third Test which is awesome for us," Paine told media on Tuesday. Warner injured his groin during the second One-day International and had to miss the last ODI as well as the subsequent T20I series and the first two Tests.

​​​​​​​Even without star captain Virat Kohli, India levelled the series at 1-1 to become the first touring side to win consecutive Boxing Day Tests in Melbourne since England in 1982 and 1986.

Paine had joined Cameron Green at the crease as the last recognised batting pair with the Aussies struggling in second innings at 98 for five and still 33 runs behind India. Paine made one run before attempting to hit left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja for runs through the off-side. He missed the ball which went into wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant's gloves.

Smith was bowled on Monday as he shuffled across to cover the off-stump as he usually does, allowing the ball from the right-armer Bumrah to slip past his pads and clip his leg-stump. With Australia still 60 runs behind, it turned out to be a big wicket for India as they ran through the brittle Aussie middle-order with tight bowling and restricted them to 200 and eventually won the Test by eight wickets.

"We just need to bat better. No matter who is there, we just need to scoring runs. That is our job as the top 7 in Australian cricket team. If you are not then obviously they (selectors) will look at other people. But yeah, these are the best we have at the moment but they have not been good enough to get the job done," said Tim Paine.

Asked where he would place this week's MCG win which has come in the absence of regular India skipper Virat Kohli and injury to key India fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma as well as Umesh Yadav (in the second innings), the India coach said this win deserves a place in the annals of cricket history.

The third Test can be shifted to Melbourne if the Covid-19 situation in Sydney doesn't improve. India coach Ravi Shastri on Tuesday told media that the team management will have a chat with him about how he feels before taking a call on his availability.