IND vs AUS: Australia announce playing XI for Boxing Day Test; Josh Hazlewood’s replacement confirmed

Australia have named their playing XI for the fourth Test against India in Melbourne. The Kangaroos have made 2 major changes to their side, with Scott Boland replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood, while Sam Konstas comes in at the top of the order after Nathan McSweeney was dropped from the squad.

Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the Border Gavaskar Trophy with a calf strain. Notably, Boland also played in the Adelaide Test when Hazlewood was nursing another injury.

Travis Head's injury:

Shortly after the third Test match in Brisbane, reports emerged that explosive Australian batsman Travis Head had suffered an injury and might not be available for the Melbourne Test. However, skipper Pat Cummins has confirmed that Head is 'ready to go' and will feature in the upcoming Test.

"Trav's good to go, he will play. He just ticked off some final things today and yesterday. But no worries about injury with Trav. He will go into the game fully fit," Cummins said on Head's injury

"I do not think you will see too much management of him throughout the game. He just kind of plays as is. Maybe around fielding, if he is a bit uncomfortable, we will (manage him), but he is fully fit," the Australian skipper added

Head playing the fourth Test would be a huge boost for the Aussies as the left-hander is the highest run-scorer in the series and has single-handedly turned the tide in the last two encounters. In the 3 matches of the series so far, Head has scored 409 runs in 5 innings at an average of 81.40 and a strike rate of 94.23.

Australia's XI for Boxing Day Test:

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