India vs Australia 3rd Test Playing XI Tip-off: Shubman Gill to replace KL Rahul as opener

Having bested Australia in the first two tests and retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth consecutive time, India walk into the Indore Test as firm favorites, looking to seal the series.
While the hosts have faced little challenge in the bowling department, having picked all of Australia’s 40 possible wickets across four innings, their batting lineup can use with a tweak or two.
Opener KL Rahul has been under the scanner for his dismal returns. Per The Indian Express, Rahul was stripped of his vice captaincy role following the Delhi Test.
In his last 10 innings for India, Rahul has scored only 125 runs, averaging less than 35. In three innings so far in the 2023 Border Gavaskar Trophy, Rahul has returns of 20, 17 and 1.
Gill to replace 
While Rahul has experienced a torrid run with the bat, Shubman Gill has been India’s top scorer across formats so far this year, having scored a double hundred and two hundreds in ODI and a century in T20Is. The 23-year-old had also scored his maiden Test hundred in December last year against Bangladesh.

Fun times in the field ft. @imVkohli 🙂 💪#TeamIndia sharpen their catching skills ahead of the 3rd #INDvAUS Test in Indore. 👍 👍@mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/6VtHfBBbLt
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 27, 2023
His exclusion from the Test squad in the first two matches had come as a surprise for many but it seems like Gill is set to replace Rahul as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the third Test starting Wednesday.
The right handed prolific opener was also seen participating in slip catching sessions along with former India captain Virat Kohli.
No change in the bowling attack
It seems out of question that the Indian think tank would alter with the winning combination in the bowling lineup. The spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin (14) and Ravindra Jadeja (17) share a total of 31 off India’s 40 wicket share so far in the series.
The third in India’s spin trinity, Axar Patel, may not have been among the wickets but has been India’s second highest run scorer with 158 runs off his two innings.
The pace partnership of Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj is also unlikely to be benched. While Shami has picked seven wickets including a 4-fer in the first innings in Delhi, Siraj has been effective with the ball in early stages of the innings in both Tests.

Predicted Playing XIs
India: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj
Australia: Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Swepson, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Lance Morris