Team India have dropped both their opening batsmen from the suqad that lost in Perth while spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has also been ruled out of the decisive  Test against Australia after failing to recover from an abdominal damage.

Ashwin missed the second Test in Perth, where Virat and Co. got a 146-run defeat  and Australia leveled the series. Indian team management hoped he would recover to take his place in the side the 32-year-old was missing from the starting  eleven  announced by the country`s cricket board (BCCI) on Tuesday.

Openers Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay are in as they put together just one double-digit stand at the halfway point of the four-Test series, while paceman Umesh Yadav has also been ruled out.

Spinning all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also comes into the side after recovering from a shoulder injury.Batsman Rohit Sharma and opener Mayank Agarwal, who will make his Test debut, have been placed in for the third Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

India, who are looking to win their first series in Australia, won the opening Test in Adelaide by 31 runs. The series will shift to Sydney for the finale beginning on Jan. 3.

 Here is India team: Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah