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AUS vs IND | 1st Test Preview: Hosts seeking redemption as India chase early momentum in Adelaide

Mayank Kumar


In an age when arguments such as ‘Test cricket is dying’ have been prevalent, the fact that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy has garnered more interest and more intense build-up than the limited-overs series between Australia and India speaks of the level of competition between the two sides in white jerseys.

The Future Tours Programme has not left the Test series between two of the best teams across the world to remain a rare occasion with them seeing each other for the third time in a span of three years. A lot of matches and fresh memories may well kill the surprise element, and ultimately the interest of the audience, but both India and Australia have been outstanding in keeping the level of competition up and have challenged each other in their fortresses.

The touring Australians were better than Virat Kohli’s team in the first Test in Pune in 2017, on the back of arguably one of  Steve Smith’s finest centuries, keeping in mind the level of help spinners were getting from ball one of the game. Cheteshwar Puajara returned the favour to Australia when they were hosts in 2018-19 and produced a masterclass, fighting the bowlers all alone, and taking the Indian team towards a total they could challenge the hosts with.

Before those two series, Virat Kohi had set the tone for the future Tests between the two sides with twin centuries at Adelaide Oval in the 2014-15 series. The same venue will see another round of battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begin tomorrow.


Of late, in duels between the two sides, India have turned out to be the better side and it was evident on the last tour to Australia when they won a Test series for the first time in the history of Indian cricket. It’s very difficult to not take heart from that series win but Kohli and team management are pragmatic enough to understand the difference between the two Australian sides - the one whom they beat two years back and the one they are raring to face now. They don’t need to look beyond a single name in Steve Smith to estimate the difference between the two challenges.

More than that, the series will be full of contests within a contest and there are players on either side of the fence who are desperate to make a mark and they will certainly decide the fate of the series.

Australia vs India series has a history of bringing about the emergence of great players such as Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, David Warner, Steve Smith, among others, who established themselves on the world stage purely on the basis of their performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

For the tourists, there are challenges to encounter in the series and they would be looking forward to going into the first Test with a dominating note and will rely on the tried and tested skills before the problem deepens as the series progresses. Virat Kohli will miss the series after the first Test while Ishant Sharma will be missing all four matches.

The Indian team will be itching to start off the series on a winning note and take the momentum from here on and rely on other players who are talented and are in reckoning to become a permanent member of the batting line up to come through the ranks in Kohli’s absence. On the bowling front, the tourists will back their pacers to come good in the day-night test where they can reap the advantage of a pink ball under the lights.

For the hosts, there are too many concerns with many of the first-choice players missing due to injuries. There was an intense build-up to the series about how the opening bowling pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will fare against David Warner who looks a completely different batsman on Australian soil but that prospect has been dampened with the left-hander being ruled out of, at least, the first Test.

Another hot contender for the opening role, Will Pucovski suffered a concussion to get ruled out of the first game while the incumbent Joe Burns who had partenered Warner in the last summer is battling to get bat on ball for runs.

Emerging all-rounder Cameron Green who has earned the right to be in the playing XI, according to coach Justin Langer, too has suffered a concussion and may well be out of the first Test. However, if he passes the concussion protocol, he will make his debut in Adelaide.

Australian captain Tim Paine disclosed months before the tour that it was hard for him and his side to swallow the defeat they got at the hands of Indians in the last series and he will try his best to thwart India and that he has the arsenal up his sleeves to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy this time.

What would have hurt Paine in the last series was that his star trio of pacers - Pat Cummins, Mitchel Starc, and Josh Hazlewood - were out bowled by their Indian counterparts and the fact was not lost on the outcome of the series.

Tim Paine will be reminding his batsmen to be wary of Indian pacers while the absence of Ishant Sharma will also hand them a breather as Ishant was used as a workhorse who kept on charging in even with little help from pitches.

A lot will change with every match in the series as it has been evident in the last few series between the sides. But both teams will go all out to start well and win the all-important Adelaide Test but the match means a lot more for the touring Indians who will be without their best batsman and captain after this game and they would love to be 1-0 up in the series while saying goodbye to their captain.

Australia vs India: Match Details

Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Date and Time: December 17-21, 09:30 AM IST, 04:30 GMT

Broadcaster: Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV

Pitch report

As per reports in the Australian media, the pitch curator is considering leaving grass of length 6-8 mm on the pitch to have fair pace and bounce across the five days of the game. The pink ball will also make life tough, especially for the batsmen batting in the ‘twilight period’, as has been pointed out by many batsmen from both sides.

Australian captain will have five bowling options if Cameron Green is deemed fit to play while the Indians too can consider having a four-pronged pace attack, leaving out Ravichandran Ashwin based on the record of other visiting spinners at the Adelaide Oval in previous day-night Tests.

Team News

Australia

Justin Langer confirmed that the team management had not come to terms with Joe Burns’ lack of runs with the bat and the coach was very busy with Burns in the nets. Burns was the centre of attention in the Australian team nets and the words of Langer about Burns were indicative that the team was not giving up on him just yet and may back him to partner Marcus Harris or Matthew Wade, who Langer backed saying he has the technique to counter the new ball and also has the game to counter-attack in the way of David Warner.


There is uncertainty over Cameron Green who got hit on the head in the second tour game but Langer confirmed that he will make his debut in case he recovers and passes the concussion protocols.

The bowling attack picks itself with Nathan Lyon a certainty regardless of how the pitch at the Adelaide Oval will be. Lyon has been an outlier in the day-night Tests, picking up more wickets than any of his contemporaries. Mitchell Starc joined the squad just three days prior to the game but is all set to feature in the playing XI.

Strongest XI

Matthew Wade, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (c & wk), Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon

India

With Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma not being in Australia, Indians had to figure out which players will fill not only those voids but Rishabh Pant’s lack of form with the bat in the months leading up to the series also left them pondering over who will be the wicketkeeper. Just when the debate on Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant was going in favour of Saha, Pant came into his own and scored a demolishing century against Australia A side to stake a claim on the wicketkeeper slot, based on his better batting credentials. However, Saha is likely to get the nod ahead of Pant based on his wicket-keeping credentials.

There was a toss-up between Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill for the opener's slot, in place of Rohit Sharma, and the fact that they were not made to bat in the top of the order indicated that KL Rahul was not in reckoning to open in the Adelaide Test. Shaw wasted those opportunities with some strong and belligerent starts while Gill went on to do better than Shaw but could not notch up big scores to completely solidify his claims.


For the role of the third seamer, Indians let the trio of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Navdeep Saini unleash their best and prove their worth to be the third seamer to partner Shami and Bumrah in Adelaide. By the looks of the performances in the tour games, Navdeep Saini looked all over the place but the uncapped Siraj looked sharp and impressive. However, Umesh Yadav got the wickets and bowled well in rhythm and it’s most likely that he will get the nod ahead of Siraj to start in Adelaide.

Strongest XI

Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami


Australia vs India: Dream 11 team and suggestion

Mayank Agarwal, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha,  Cameron Green, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami

Captain: Steve Smith

Vice-captain: Virat Kohli

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