India will return to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the fourth Test against Australia set to begin from Wednesday, December 26. They will carry happy memories heading into the fixture having won the last two Test matches played at the venue.

However, despite a good past record, all is not well for India heading into the Melbourne Test as they have a lot of problems to address.

Ever since the second innings of the Perth Test, Indian batters have collectively failed to put up a good show with the bat as they haven't been able to cross the 300-run mark. The famed Indian batting line up has failed to put up runs as senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have struggled massively with the bat.

Furthermore, youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant have also failed to impress in the series so far bringing all the pressure on the lower order where Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja have added some crucial runs. With the ball, the story has been the same for the Asian Giants with Jasprit Bumrah taking the majority of the workload while others have failed to support him.

Hence, India have a lot to work on in terms of both batting and bowling as they aim to continue their love affair with Melbourne. The biggest question mark heading into the fourth Test is the batting position of captain Rohit Sharma. There have been some reports doing rounds which claim that Rohit could well be opening the innings while KL Rahul is likely to bat at number three. It remains to be seen whether the team management will re-shuffle their batting order in the all-important fixture with the series on the line as Rahul has been India's best batter on the tour so far.

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

India have played 14 Tests against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and have won four out of those, while two have been drawn. Moreover, the MCG has been the happy hunting ground for India since the last three tours as they haven't lost at the venue since 2012. Hence, India will look to continue their love affair with the venue in the upcoming fixture and take a lead in the series.

Will Nitish Kumar Reddy get the axe?

Ahead of the fourth Test, there have been some discussions about dropping Nitish Kumar Reddy and bringing in a genuine fast bowling option due to the lack of support for Jasprit Bumrah. While Reddy has been promising as a batter, scoring crucial runs lower down the order, but hasn't been that good with the ball, having taken three wickets at an average of 41 and a high economy of 4.55.

Pitch and Conditions

The centre pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) had a tinge of green on Monday, three days ahead of the fourth Test. significantly as the game progressed. The forecast of temperatures reaching 40 degrees on Boxing Day adds further intrigue to how the surface might behave. The pitch is expected to have a good covering of grass on Day 1 which could heavily influence what the captain decides to do after winning the toss.

TEAM NEWS: IND VS AUS, 4th TEST

Australia announced their XI for the fourth Test as they brought in Sam Konstas in place of Nathan McSweeney who was dropped from the side after his poor outing in the last three Tests. On the other hand, they also brought in Scott Boland in place of Josh Hazlewood who's been ruled out of the series due to a side strain.

On the other hand, India are also likely to make a few changes to the Playing XI with . India could also be tempted to bring in Washington Sundar in the XI given how spinners have performed traditionally in Melbourne. Notably, since 2010, off-spinner Nathan Lyon has picked up the most wickets at the MCG, with 45 -- 10 more than Pat Cummins, who is second on the list.

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

INDIA PREDICTED XI FOR 4TH TEST: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.