Overview
- India trail the series 0–1 after a rain-hit Perth defeat in which they posted 136 for 9 before Australia won by seven wickets on DLS.
- Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, dismissed for 0 and 8 in Perth, have worked intensively in Adelaide nets, with Kohli logging a high-intensity 45‑minute session and Rohit targeting Josh Hazlewood’s hard lengths.
- Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri urged patience and backed the senior pair to rebound, with Ponting stressing short‑term goals over looking ahead to 2027 and Matthew Hayden advising Kohli to avoid overthinking.
- Team balance is under review after criticism of sending Axar Patel ahead of KL Rahul and of using two spin all‑rounders on a pace-friendly pitch, though India could still retain the same XI with Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna pushing for consideration.
- Australia expect to persist with the outside‑off tactic to Kohli, with Matthew Short flagging swing and nip from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood; Adam Zampa and Alex Carey return, Matt Kuhnemann is released, and Ben Dwarshuis is out injured.