Big picture
When India last played a test series in Australia and sealed a historic victory, an inevitable caveat was added: Australia lacked its key players Steven Smith and David Warner, and a team with a new captain and a shaky batting lineup. .
With no Virat Kohli in between, a shaky starting pair, and a backup captain with some existential questions of his own, India is now comparable to that Australian team on the follow-up tour.
It is one thing that India knew about Kohli’s departure and had planned it, and quite another is that it followed a record low. Not much was needed for a smooth handover to Ajinkya Rahane: A tighter competition in Adelaide, a game that lasted over two and a half nights, could have pulled it off, even if India had lost. A few adjustments to the batting order, a little machine lubrication, and there would still be enough time to force a series result.
Yet here is Rahane, the final game of a year that has been relentless in so many other ways, tasked with trying to keep the series alive with the ghosts of ’36 and without half the fast bowling duo that he was going to anchor. . this tour, potentially having to try and plug the gaps with a couple of rookies.
On the other side, Tim Paine is a much more relaxed man and Australia is a very different team. There’s no Warner yet, and it’s far from a solid hitting lineup. But they held on, in a Steven Smith two-run game, long enough for their bowling attack to work its magic. Both starters found runs at the end of the last game, the rookie wunderkind looked like he belonged and they know a softened Indian team can’t win the series if they go 2-0 in Melbourne. You won’t catch them worrying about the warnings.
Forms guide
(Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: WWWWW
India: LLLWW
In the spotlight
Steven Smith it is always in the crosshairs against India. Before the first test, he had a score of over fifty in each alternate inning on average against India. After scores of 1 and 1 *, he still averages 79.5 against them. Australia will be eager to have Smith in the middle with a decent score on the board, on a direct pitch, against a lineup with some scars. There is only one way this tour can get worse for India, and that is if Smith finds his hands again.
He is perhaps the most skilled bowler in the Indian lineup, but Jasprit bumrah I had never been the only senior fast bowler before. Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami have been around for the entire run of Bumrah’s Test thus far, sharing responsibilities in a heavy bowling attack. Umesh Yadav is experienced but not a regular, and there is a rookie in Mohammed Siraj. Bumrah is considered to have a firm head and progressively improve within games and series. Can you continue to do that as the de facto bowling leader?
Team news
Paine has supported Matthew Wade and Cameron Green before this match, and said Australia is not thinking about how to fit in Warner until absolutely necessary. There are no signs of changes to the lineup.
Australia (likely): 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 have eliminated Prithvi Shaw and delivered debuts to Shubman Gill and Siraj, who both had decent starts in practice games before the series. Rishabh Pant got a hundred in the second of those games, and he’s on the side to replace Wriddhiman Saha as the wicketkeeper. Those are the comparable changes. Ravindra Jadeja, who missed the first round with concussion and hamstring problems, will be the fifth bowling option.
India: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 5 Hanuma Vihari, 6 Rishabh Pant (week), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Plot and conditions
Melbourne’s forecast suggests some 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 are expected to be drastically colder than that.
Statistics and trivia
- Australia have won all six events they have played since the end of the ashes last year. This is Paine’s best streak since taking over as captain.
- Since 2001, India has played two foreign debutants only twice before: 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 event between Australia and India: Australia won 43 and lost 28 of them, and there has been a draw.
Quotes
“The moment we took our foot off the pedal and we thought we were doing well, we saw in England in that fifth round, that we can take off pretty quickly. So a great focus of ours since that fifth round in the ashes has been winning after winning. and our attitude towards the next game. Last week we have been fantastic in the way we have prepared for this game. We know that some of the players you are talking about will come on your side, like a KL Rahul or a Rishabh Pant, They are dangerous players who like to take the game and they will play positively. If we give guys like that an inch, they will take a mile. “
Tim paineThe side is aware of some old lessons
Varun Shetty is deputy editor of ESPNcricinfo
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