Despite suffering a humiliating defeat in the series opener, Australia won’t be making any changes to their squad for the second Test against India in Adelaide, confirmed head coach Andrew McDonald.

The hosts were completely outplayed by India in Perth, losing the match by 295 runs to concede a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The second Test will be played a day-night affair at the Adelaide Oval, starting December 6.

“The people in that change-room (for Perth Test) are the same people that will be in Adelaide," McDonald was quoted as saying by ‘cricket.com.au‘.

Australia have an additional concern as well, with all-rounder Mitchell Marsh dealing with some fitness issues.

“Has he (Marsh) pulled up okay? We’ll wait and see," McDonald said. “No, we didn’t feel that (was a weakness). We knew that Mitch (Marsh) was slightly underdone coming in, but I thought the performance in the first innings was satisfactory."

While McDonald was pleased with Marsh’s performance, he did mention that the all-rounder’s fitness would be closely monitored before the Adelaide Test. Marsh claimed three wickets across both innings of Perth Test and returned with scores of 6 and 47.

Marnus Labuschagne’s form is another major concern for the Aussies. Labuschagne recorded scores of 2 and 3 in Perth, adding more to his dismal performances in Tests, where he averages just 31.75 in 19 matches since 2023, a major slump from his overall average of 48.45.

However, McDonald backed the top-order batter to bounce back strongly going forward in the series.

“That’s an ongoing discussion and that ebbs and flows in players’ careers, so at the moment he’s in one of those patches and no doubt he’ll be getting critiqued externally," McDonald said.

“But internally we’re really confident that, at his best, he’s the player that we need."

(With PTI Inputs)