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


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 IST

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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Wriddhiman Saha vs Rishabh Pant: Picking Pant would be gross injustice to Saha

Last time India toured Australia, Rishabh Pant made quite an impression. His verbal antics were captured by the stump mic and broadcasted to the world by an adventurous host broadcaster while his explosive batting in the final Test showed why he was rated so highly by Indian cricket watchers. Pant seemed to have reached superstardom at the time. But since then, he has fallen on slightly hard times. His performance in both limited-overs cricket and Test cricket tapered off and this brought Wriddhiman Saha back into the Test team. Now, as India approach the first Test against Australia at Adelaide, they are once again faced with the choice of whether to pick Pant or Saha. Pant blazed away to an exciting hundred in the second practice game against Australia A. This solidified his claim to the wicketkeeper's spot. But that's not the only advantage he has. Saha has been a brilliant wicketkeeper and a very useful batsman for India in Test cricket over the years. But his dogged style of batting is not as glamorous in cricket as Pant's free-flowing strokeplay. Sadly, in Indian cricket circles these days, looks often seem to matter more than substance. The whole fanfare surrounding Pant completely obscured the great service rendered by Saha in the most difficult of circumstances. In 2016, when India were in serious danger of collapsing to a low first-innings score in a Test against West Indies at Barbados, it was the unassuming but gritty Saha who bailed India out of trouble, along with Ravichandran Ashwin. He did that in conditions where the bowlers had plenty on offer. Similarly, later that year, in a home Test against New Zealand, Saha came up with, in his own view, his best performance with the bat. He scored fifties in each innings of a game where bowler-friendly conditions had put India in trouble again. Such efforts are easily forgotten while the eye-catching big hits of Pant are drooled over constantly by fans and experts alike. The same thing is happening again. People are raving about the fireworks Pant produced in the second practice match. But nobody is talking about the invaluable half-century Saha scored in the first practice match. In that game, India were in trouble in their second innings and were reduced, at one stage, to 143/9. Australia A had a first innings lead of 59, meaning they were tantalisingly close to getting a great chance of winning. Here, it was the understated and non-flamboyant Saha who, by scoring an unbeaten half-century, got India to safety. But nobody is talking about this brilliant performance of Saha. Instead, the century by Pant, against a bowling attack that seemed to have lost all interest and was merely going through their motions, may well earn the left-hander a spot in the Indian team. Pant does have a good record in Test cricket and has scored hundreds in England and Australia. But one must remember the circumstances and conditions in which those tons came. The pitches were flat and the opposition, at least during the latter hundred, was flat and deflated. Saha, in contrast, has produced his best performances when his team was in choppy waters. Unfortunately, the obsession with 'positive' batting, something that once led India to drop Cheteshwar Pujara in favour of Rohit Sharma, has been a trait of Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli's leadership. This may tilt the scales in favour of Pant for the first Test. If that happens, it would be unfair on Saha, and a bad example for budding cricketers also. Substance is always more important than style. But in times of IPL-centered analysis, people don't always recognise that.

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Ravichandran Ashwin faces Australian litmus test fourth time, will he succeed finally?

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BBL | Hobart vs Adelaide: Siddle's first five-for marred by bizzare tactics in team's win

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BBL 10 | Match Preview: Maxwell-led Stars seek to sustain momentum against Scorchers

The match between Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars on Wednesday will be an important contest in the early stages of this edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). Stars have two victories under their belt already and things seem to be falling in place for them sor far. Scorchers came up with a disappointing performance in their first match of the 10th edition, against Melbourne Renegades. It was their batting that led the Perth side down in their opening match of the season. Few batsmen managed to even get a good start to their innings. Colin Munro getting out for a duck was a big setback as he was expected to give his team a good start. The team never recovered and their bowlers couldn't mount a serious resistance either. But this was just one match. How the Scorchers shape up in the second match will let us know whether they are in genuine trouble or was the game against Renegades a one-off. For the Stars, they just have to keep going with the momentum. There is also, always, room for improvement. Scorchers' Challenge The fact that in the Scorchers' innings, the highest score came from Aaron Hardie, who batted at no. 7 - he scored 33 - shows where the problem lies. The openers failed completely, including the big-hitting Kiwi Munro. The middle order couldn't rise to the occassion and the lower order had too much to do. There is no dearth of firepower in the Scorchers' batting array. Munro, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner, are all big hitters. It is reasonable to think that, on a given day, if two of these three batsmen get going, it will be a good day for their team. In the bowling department, they have an impressive three-pronged pace attack - Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye, and Jhye Richardson. It was Richardson who had success against the Renegades, with figures of 2/20 in 3.3 overs. Similar to their batting, if two out of these three bowlers have a good day, Perth would be very close to winning. But let's not overlook Fawad Ahmed. Leg-spinners have always been very effective in T20 leagues and he could turn games around with his performances. His effort on that day was also reasonably good. 1/22 in three overs is not bad in T20 cricket. Things look good as far as the team composition of the Perth team is concerned. It's just about getting things right. Stars Keep Shining Things are looking good for the Stars. Glenn Maxwell, their most high-profile player and captain is in splendid form. Hilton Cartwright, on the other hand, is providing the solidity that the middle order needs. Opener Marcus Stoinis has one fifty to his name already. West Indian Andre Fletcher has played some magnificent strokes, especially the 'no-look' flick for six. But he hasn't gone on to get a half-century yet. Perhaps, the expectation from him is precisely to provide a rapid start to his team. Even cameos of 30-40 runs would be useful at the top of the order. Ben Dunk and Nick Larkin are still to manage a good score. This is the only area where Stars may be vulnerable. If they lose Maxwell early, then things may get very interesting. The bowling is well-served by in-form Adam Zampa. His improvement in the last couple of years has been very conspicuous. Maxwell's decision to open the bowling himself has produced mixed results. It would be interesting to see whether he persists with it. There has been one major blow to the bowling department because of the injury to Dilbar Hussain. In his absence, the reserves in the bowling department would be tested. The main seam-bowling combination though, would remain that of Billy Stanlake and Nathan Coulter-Nile. Coulter-Nile picked up a four-for in the opening game while Stanlake is yet to make a mark. But both are proven commodities. They will feel the lack of support due to the absence of Hussain. Perth Scorchers vs Melbourne Stars: Match Details Venue: Aurora Stadium, Launceston Date and Time: December 16, 1:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM Local, 8:15 AM GMT Broadcasters: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV Pitch Report The nature of the pitch in Launceston was somewhat of a mystery before the match involving Hurricanes and Strikers on December 15. What we saw in this game was a pitch with plenty of help for swing bowlers. This is not entirely surprising as the other stadium in Tasmania, the Bellerive Oval, also boasts, arguably, the most swing-friendly pitch in the country. With so many good seamers in both teams, the contest should be interesting. Weather and Toss Showers are expected on the day of the match. This means that there is a strong possibility that the match would be played under overcast condtions. This may lend a big help to seamers. Captains would have to think hard as to whether to chase or set a target after winning the toss. Probable XIs Perth Scorchers: Josh Inglis (Wk), Colin Munro, Joe Clarke, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner (C), Cameron Bancroft, Aaron Hardie, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed Melbourne Stars: Marcu Stoinis, Andre Flethcher, Glenn Maxwell (C), Hilton Cartwright, Ben Dunk (Wk), Nick Larken, Clint Hinchliffe, Adam Zampa, Liam Hatcher, Billy Stanlake