A FRESH START FOR INDIA AT MELBOURNE

India will feature a fresh

pair of openers for the first time in 82 years when they take on Australia in

the third Test at Melbourne on Wednesday. The Indian team will pick two players from Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal to open after dropping KL Rahul and Murali Vijay. Here’s a look at India's three opening options: Sharma has never opened in the 26 Tests he has played. He has mostly been a middle-order batsman, batting five times at No. 3, once at No. 4, 16 times at No. 5 and 23 times at No. 6. In one-day internationals, Sharma has been successful in the opening slot, scoring three double centuries. The 31-year-old batsman played in the Adelaide Test, scoring 37 and 1 at No. 6. Sharma’s ability to play horizontal bat strokes makes him a strong contender in the series in Australia

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86 The right-handed batsman was part of the 2012 Under-19 World Cup-winning team and is the only one to have come this far from that batch of youngsters. He has played two Tests, batting at No. 6, and has managed a half-century at The Oval during India's tour of England earlier this year. His off-spin, however, has caught more attention, as he has picked some crucial wickets in the first two

Tests

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67 The Karnataka opening batsman has been on the fringes for a long time and has been unlucky to have not made the cut before. In his last first-class game, a Ranji Trophy tie, he scored 25 and 53 against Gujarat. Agarwal opened against New Zealand A at Hamilton last month, scoring 42 in a drawn four-day match, and scored 65 and 42 batting at No. 3 in the game before that

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