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When India last played a series of tests in Australia and sealed a historic victory, an inevitable caveat was attached: Australia lacked its key players Steven Smith and David Warner, and a team with a new captain and a fragile batting lineup.
Without Virat Kohli in the middle, a shaky opening pair and a substitute captain with his own existential questions, India is now on par with this Aussie team on the follow-up tour.
It’s one thing India knew about and planned for Kohli’s release, another is that it hit a historic low. It didn’t take much for a smooth transfer to Ajinkya Rahane: a tighter fight in Adelaide, a match that lasted more than two nights and a half day, could have done it, even if India had lost . A few adjustments in batting order, a little oiling of the machine, and there would still be enough time to force a series result.
Yet here Rahane is – the last game in a year that has been relentless in so many other ways – tasked with trying to keep the series alive with the ghosts of 36 all, and without half the fast-paced bowling duo. who was going to anchor this tour, potentially having to try and fill in the gaps with a few newbies.
On the other side, Tim Paine is a much more relaxed man, and Australia a much different team. There’s still no Warner, and it’s far from a solid batting lineup. But they stuck, in a two-run Steven Smith game, long enough for their bowling attack to work its magic. Both workers found points at the end of the last game, newbie wunderkind looked to belong and they know a softened Indian side cannot win the series if they become 2-0 in Melbourne. You won’t find them worrying about the warnings.
Form Guide
(Last five games completed, most recent first)
Australia: WWWWW
India: LLLWW
In the spotlight
Steven smith is still in the spotlight against India. Before the first test, he had a score of over fifty all rounds on average against India. After scores of 1 and 1 *, he still has an average of 79.5 against them. Australia will be eager to have Smith in the middle with a decent score on the board, on a playing field, against a formation with some scars. There is only one way this tour can get worse for India, and that is if Smith gets his hands back.
He may be the most talented bowler in Indian roster, but Jasprit bumrah has never been the singular senior fast bowler before. Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami have both been around Bumrah’s Test’s entire career so far, sharing the responsibilities in a strong bowling attack. Umesh Yadav is experienced but not a regular, and there a beginner in Mohammed Siraj. Bumrah is renowned for having a stable lead and gradually getting better in games and playoffs. Can he continue to do this as the de facto bowling leader?
Team news
Paine has backed both Matthew Wade and Cameron Green ahead of this game, and said Australia are not considering how to get Warner on board until they absolutely have to. There is no indication of any change in the line-up.
Australia (probable): 1 Joe Burns, 2 Matthew Wade, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Tim Paine (capt & wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon
India ditched Prithvi Shaw and debuted Shubman Gill and Siraj, who both had decent outings in practice matches leading up to the series. Rishabh Pant got a hundred in the second of those games, and he’s in the side to replace Wriddhiman Saha as wicket keeper. These are the identical changes. Ravindra Jadeja who missed the first test with concussion and hamstring issues will be the fifth bowling option.
India: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Ajinkya Rahane (captain), 5 Hanuma Vihari, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Steps and conditions
Melbourne forecast suggests major fluctuations during the test. Pleasant weather on the first day is expected to be followed by a high of 33 degrees Celsius on the second, which is also the only day with a forecast of rain. The last three days should be considerably cooler than that.
Statistics and anecdotes
- Australia have won all six tests they have played since the end of the Ashes last year. It’s Paine’s best streak since taking over as captain.
- Since 2001, India has played two debutants abroad only twice – Virender Sehwag and Deep Dasgupta in 2001 against South Africa, and Kohli, Abhinav Mukund and Praveen Kumar in 2011 against the West Indies.
- This will be the 100th Test between Australia and India – Australia won 43 and lost 28, and there was a tie.
Quotes
“The moment we take our foot off the pedal and think it’s okay, we’ve seen in England on this fifth test, that we can pull away pretty quickly. So our main focus since this fifth Test in the Ashes has been won after we won and our attitude towards the next game. Last week we were fantastic in the way we prepared for this game. We know some of the players they talk about are coming from their side, like a KL Rahul or a Rishabh Pant, they’re dangerous players who like to take the game and will play positively. If we give guys like that a thumbs up, they’ll take a mile. “
Tim paineThe side is paying attention to some old lessons
Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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