AUSTRALIA TOUR OF INDIA 2020-21
Kohli and Pujara have not had a hit against the pink ball under the lights in preparation. © Getty
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara will ride into the unknown on Thursday without ever having faced a single delivery with a pink ball under lights outside the home. However, it was not by choice. The Indian team had scheduled an optional training session for Wednesday (December 16) evening. It was hoped that it would be the only opportunity for people like Kohli and Pujara to take a look and test the unique challenge they face for the next five days.
However, sunset in Adelaide was scheduled for 8:26 p.m. Wednesday and that meant the Indians would have literally had no more than five minutes of batting after dark. Understandably, then, Kohli and Pujara decided to take the night off and rest for what will be the most anticipated Test Match of the year. However, they were not the only ones. In fact, Mayank Agarwal and R Ashwin were the only two players chosen at Game XI who even performed at the Adelaide Oval.
It has been a rather strange preparation for a series of tests that has a lot at stake for both teams. For India, it’s about showing their detractors, their opponents and themselves that they are good enough to beat Australia on their own turf with at least some of their best players, like Steve Smith, in the mix. For Tim Paine & Co, it’s about reclaiming their strength that they held undefeated for more than half a century prior to the 2018-19 invasion of Kohli’s India.
The test players from India have been in Australia for over a month now. It is the longest time they would have been in a country before playing the first game of a series. It means there will be no jet lag or lack of acclimatization issues for Pujara, Rahane, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and the like. But as with their most veteran hitters, the Indian team as a whole will ride into the unknown at the Adelaide Oval as they play their first pink ball tryout abroad.
However, in a strange turn of events, especially in the last 10 days, it has been Australia that has been left in a serious situation. Despite the concussions and the players out of shape, there were fears that Smith would suddenly develop a late injury two days into the biggest game of the summer to date. To the point that everyone who showed up at the Adelaide Oval was on a mission to locate Smith.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Australia’s best hitter to tag his guard at the nets and then unsurprisingly he didn’t go away for quite some time. However, unlike the Indians, the Australians were in full force, or whatever was left, for their session on Wednesday. Also unlike India, who had finished their game XI even before landing in Adelaide, the Australians were still trying to finish in some places that were still clouded by ambiguity.
Joe Burns was on the net pretty early in the piece and stayed there literally as long as Smith. Although everything was ready to make his testing debut, Cameron Green continued to perform his routines at the corner net as he awaited a final test result on Thursday morning to set him free for action. Whereas Matthew Wade took on a group of net pitchers with his usual stubbornness. But while Paine spoke about keeping his player XI’s identity “at home,” speculation remained about who will open batting for Australia on Thursday with some even suggesting the rather ingenious option of the captain himself taking on the role.
India is so settled, depending on how they have prepared, that coach Ravi Shastri could afford to take a break from the optional practice session while Justin Langer was quite anxious and busy the entire afternoon. Whether it had to do with controlling players like Burns and Wade or making up for Nathan Lyon’s absence from the nets by handing out some off-the-wall gun to Smith.
Kohli’s men could boldly go where no Indian team has gone before on Thursday. But once there, they’ll face off against the Paine gang that comes from a place of unprecedented ambiguity that few Australian teams in the past, especially at home, have had to deal with. It is a battle of the unknown.
When: Australia v India, Test 1 (D / N), December 17-21, 2:30 PM local time, 9:30 AM IST
Where: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
What to expect: Damian Hough, the curator of Adelaide Oval, is no stranger to creating fields and preparing his place for high-priced cricket literally overnight. He has done so numerous times in the past, as recently as a couple of years ago when he had a proving ground ready two nights after ACDC left the Oval and the curator stunned. And his skills were put to the test four weeks ago when in the middle of the fall in all the fields of the square, the delay this time due to Adelaide hosting the State of Origin rugby, the city suffered a sudden outbreak of the Covid virus- 19.
It meant that eventually Hough could only put half of the 12 pitches in the square, but thankfully that included the center wicket that will be used for the Test. So don’t be alarmed if the one in use as of Thursday looks like the one in an extreme corner. Hough has also chosen to leave 8mm grass on the pitch, but that has less to do with spice up and more to do with letting the ball stay away from scratches for longer. Think of it more like a synthetic surface where the ball skids more on the batter, basically playing to your advantage, rather than pinching too much and playing into the player’s hand.
It won’t feel like a full-blown summer during testing in Adelaide with temperatures expected to remain in the mid-20s and approach mid-teens when the lights go on.
Team news:
Australia
This current Australian team has experienced many firsts in recent years, some bad but mostly good. But they have rarely seemed more messy in terms of knowing who their staff are rather than what roles they might fit into. In all likelihood, Burns and Wade should open the hitting with Langer having insisted that Labuschagne stay at No. 3. And with Paine clarifying that Green will not be thrown to the bottom when sent to open, the only other option except Wade is his fellow Tasmanian goalkeeper. Green’s debut seems more than certain, not only based on Paine’s comments earlier in the day, but also on reports that part of the 21-year-old’s family has already flown in from Perth.
Possible XI: Joe Burns, Matthew Wade, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (c & wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India
There has been a lot of debate in India as to whether current performance should overshadow ownership. It has mainly had to do with casting Prithvi Shaw over Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha over Rishabh Pant. But the Indian field seems pretty sure that they will be playing XI for a while. The only question really was who would play close third before Umesh Yadav sealed that spot with his control and consistency at Drummoyne Oval.
Playing XI: Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Did you know
– Pujara is averaging 29.57 without hundreds since his prolific run in Australia during 2018-19 (521 runs @ 74.43)
– Visiting teams in Australia have only 1 of 26 events (from 2011-12) after choosing to participate
– Wriddhiman Saha has not played an Away Test since Cape Town 2018.
What they say:
“Steve has had a stiff back several times before and you do it when you hit in practice as much as he does. But his preparation has been very good, he has hit for the last week since we were in Adelaide, so for him to have a day off could actually be a blessing in disguise yesterday. ” – Smith’s back pain is not good news for India, remember Tim paine.
“I think you can have a clear idea of how you want to do things, but I don’t think you can plan anything specifically in test cricket. Test cricket is about finding situations and reacting to those situations in the best possible way. Skills. . ” – virat Kohli he gets philosophical about how you prepare for test cricket.
© Cricbuzz
