IND v AUS 2020, 2nd Test: India's predicted playing XI

Low on confidence and without two of their biggest stars, India take on Australia in the 2nd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Virat Kohli will head back home to attend the birth of his first child, while Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a fractured arm. Rohit Sharma has landed in Australia, but is still in quarantine and will be available only for the final two Tests.

India, under stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane, are expected to make a number of personnel changes - some enforced and others due to lack of form. Here is their predicted playing XI for the 2nd Test against Australia.

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Openers: Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill

Mayank Agarwal failed to impress in the 1st Test

Mayank Agarwal was one of the star performers of India's tour of Australia in 2018-19, and has been one of the Test team's first-choice openers since. However, in the 1st Test, the Karnataka-born batsman failed to impress.

Agarwal was beaten all ends up by a Pat Cummins inswinger in the first innings before nicking off against Josh Hazlewood in the second. With his foot movement and intent coming under question, he'll need to put in an improved showing ahead of Rohit Sharma's return.

Prithvi Shaw managed scores of 0 and 4 in the 1st Test, and he is bound to lose his place in the Indian team due to his consistently poor form. He could be replaced by Shubman Gill in the playing XI, but whether the Punjab-born batsman will open is yet to be ascertained.

KL Rahul and Hanuma Vihari are the other contenders to open the innings, although it's likely that Gill will walk out alongside Agarwal. The 21-year-old was impressive as an opener (or a No. 3) in the warm-up games, and will want to make the most of his Test debut for India.

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Middle Order: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk)

Rishabh Pant is expected to replace Wriddhiman Saha

Cheteshwar Pujara laboured his way to 43 in the first innings, and came under criticism for his strike rate of 26.88. But given how the second innings unfolded, few can question the No. 3's approach to batting.

Pujara's importance to the team has been heightened by the absence of Virat Kohli, and with the openers not offering much confidence, he might be called into action against the brand new ball once again.

The No. 4 spot is up for grabs without Kohli in the picture. Hanuma Vihari could be promoted a couple of spots up the order, while captain Ajinkya Rahane could move up one spot and shoulder more responsibility.

But the most likely candidate for the role is KL Rahul, since Rahane wouldn't want to step too far out of his comfort zone and batted at No. 5 even in the second warm-up game that had neither Pujara nor Kohli. The 28-year-old will make a comeback to the Test team after quite a while, and shouldn't feel too out of place in the middle order, where he bats in the limited-overs formats.

As mentioned earlier, coming in at No. 5 will be captain Rahane, who has a lot on his plate. Often India's most consistent overseas batsman, the 32-year-old will need to improve upon his performance in the 1st Test. He bagged a 4-ball duck in the second innings, and can't afford to repeat the same in this game.

Rahane will take confidence from his hundred in one of the warm-up games, as will Vihari. The Andhra Pradesh-born right-hander managed only 24 runs across the two innings of the 1st Test, and his place in the team could come under question when Rohit returns.

The concerning fact is that Vihari has gotten out in a variety of ways over the course of his short Test career, with the short ball and the inswinger bringing about his downfall on more than one occasion. He is absolutely crucial to India's fortunes in the remainder of the series.

Wriddhiman Saha had a horror outing in the 1st Test, scoring only 13 runs and dropping two tough chances with the gloves on. The 36-year-old was dismissed in tame fashion in both innings, and is all but confirmed to make way for the dynamic Rishabh Pant.

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Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

Ashwin bowled beautifully in the first innings of the 1st Test

The bowling lineup will see only one change from the 1st Test, as Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the final 3 Tests with a fractured arm. The pacer will be replaced by either Mohammed Siraj or Navdeep Saini, and this call will be touch-and-go.

Saini did pick up 3 wickets in the first innings of the second warm-up game, but the ball was doing a lot under the lights and two of his scalps were tail-enders. Siraj, on the other hand, took 5 wickets across the two games and hurried the batsmen with a bit of extra pace and bounce.

As a result, we could see Siraj get his maiden Test cap, although it must be said that Saini has an almost equal chance for the same.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav will make up the rest of the bowling attack. While the former two were accurate and penetrative in the 1st Test, Yadav was a tad wayward at times although he did pick up 3 wickets in the first innings.