India vs Australia | Mitchell Marsh replaces Peter Handscomb for Boxing Day Test

Handscomb failed to counter short balls in the second Test, which forced Shane Warne to ask for his head on Twitter. Handscomb, despite being a solid player of spin bowling, returned with scores of 34, 14, 7, and 13 across four innings, which has forced the Australian team management to rely on Marsh for the MCG Test. Also, MCG's lifeless nature means Australia may need an extra bowler, which might have been a reason for Handscomb's exclusion.

"It's a long series, our bowlers have had a really big workload and we feel we're going to need Mitch's bowling at some point. I'm sure Pete would be upset. I think he's had conversations with the selectors that there are a few things they would like him to work on and Pete is open to that,” Tim Paine said in the press conference.

"Pete at his best is going to score a lot of Test runs and not just his batting, he brings a hell of a lot to our side in terms of his fielding, his experience and just the way he generally goes about his cricket. We're sure he'll score a lot more runs for Australia."

While that is the only change Australia have made for the Test, Paine added that the Victorian would be back in contention for the fourth Test in Sydney which is among the most spin-friendly Australian pitches.

"Going to Sydney, a place where it normally spins, I think people come back into the fold pretty quickly because he's renowned as probably our best player of spin," Paine said. "I know he'll be doing everything he can to get back into the side."

But for now, Marsh’ ability to bowl long overs will be of immense help for the Australian bowling unit considering MCG was under scrutiny this year following the lifeless track used for last summer’s Test against England.

Australia XI for Third Test: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood