MEET AUSTRALIA IN THE FIRST TEST AT JAMTHA STADIUM IN NAGPUR
n By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Feb 8
ALL the talk that built up a special aura around this edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will finally settle into a new, unknown chapter on Thursday morning when India and Australia begin their quest for supremacy at the Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Jamtha Stadium.
For the Australians, this series is bigger than The Ashes, the ‘Final Frontier’. For India, it assumes special importance as they try to extend their ascendancy and retain the trophy which is in their grip since 2004. To make it happen, the hosts have unpacked a ‘cracked’ dry surface for their spinners who would try to trap the Kangaroos in their web.
A 3-0 win would see India finish second in the World Test Championship chart. It would give them another shot at the title against Australia which will be played in June (7-11) at The Oval.
On the other hand, a depleted Australian side, which has already booked a place in the WTC summit clash, have done their home work well to counter the Indian spinners.
The Indian team had the best preparation going into the series with Rohit Sharma-led side camping in Nagpur for around seven days ahead of the first game. The home team is game for the challenge ahead. For Rohit, it would be a test of character and leadership.
The toss would play a crucial role in the outcome of the match. Team winning the spin of coin will definitely like to bat first on the wicket which is being termed as ‘doctored’ by the Australians press.
India are set to go in with three spinners with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja selecting themselves. They might go with Axar Patel as the third spinner given his ability to bat lower down the order. He will form a potent force along with Ashwin and Jadeja as Australia are packed with left-handers in David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Matt Renshaw and Alex Carey. The two pacers Mohd Siraj and Mohd Shami may get to play leaving Umesh Yadav on bench.
India’s batting looks solid but there is a selection dilemma. Rohit Sharma will be opening the innings but who will be his partner is the big question.
KL Rahul, the vice-captain of the side, had a poor Bangladesh tour where he led the team. In the same series, his opening partner Shubhman Gill had cracked his maiden Test century. If Gill is picked ahead of Rahul for opener’s job, then the latter will either be pushed down the order or may have to sit out to make way for Suryakumar Yadav, who is another in-form white-ball
batter.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will walk in in that pecking order. The wicketkeeping position is also not confirmed yet. Had there been Rishabh Pant, he would have walked in. But the team management will have to decide whether to pick relatively experienced Ishan Kishan or hand the Test debut to Srikar Bharath who was understudy of Pant after Wriddhiman Saha retired.
“It is going to be a tough one (selection). When you have selection issues that says a lot about how the guys are performing, so that is very crucial from the team’s perspective. What we have to do is we have to go to each venue, try and check the conditions and pick the best eleven,” Indian captain Sharma said.
The Pat Cummins-led side also has problems of plenty. With pacer Josh Hazlewood failing to recover from injury and Cameron Green too missing the recovery bus, the visitors have very little to choose from the resources available.
Australia will heavily depend on spinner Nathan Lyon. He might get help from Ashton Agar, four-Test old Mitchell Swepson or uncapped Todd Murphy.
It will be for the first time since 1988 that Australia will field two frontline spinners. The pace department will be led by captain Cummins who will have to choose his partner from debutant pacer Lance Morris or seamer Scott Bowland, a six-Test veteran.
All said and done any team batting first will try to post as many runs as they can. Batting in second innings would be an altogether tough task.
“Yeah, I think it’s more important here than anywhere else in the world, that first innings lead, hopefully. You just got to find a way to put a big total on the board especially thinking if it is going to
spin, it’s going to get really
hard in that second innings,” the Australian captain
summed up.
Teams (from): India: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bahrain, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia : Pat Cummins (C), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson,
David Warner.
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