AUS vs IND | 2nd Test Preview: 'Shocked' Indians aiming to move on from Adelaide debacle

The last time Australian captain Tim Paine walked out leading his team at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) against India, it was the start of a match where he had to endure the never-ending resilience of the Indian batting line up for the first two days from behind the stumps, followed by astute brilliance of the opposition bowling attack from the dressing room. 

The story seems to be turning on its head now and as Australia crushed India in the first Test at Adelaide. It was now Paine’s turn to rejoice the joy of complete annihilation of India's batting on the third day of the Test, again from behind the stumps.

That Border-Gavaskar series was the last one where Australia showed signs of a feeble team. But with the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, old glories were restored with every passing game and series. Bowlers grew in confidence and Tim Paine went on to achieve something as captain of Australia that even Ricky Ponting was not fortunate enough to achieve over a much more prolonged period of leadership - retaining the Ashes in England.

India were supposed to mount a serious challenge but with the current Australian team appearing to be much better than the one they defeated two years back, if the Indian team management had any iota of doubts about their opponent's strength, the morning session of the third day of the first Test would have awakened the them from their deep slumber, if they were there at the first place.

Now, the challenge for India, who were already missing Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma from among their two frontline players, has gone only bigger and it may turn insurmountable as Mohammed Shami too has been ruled out due to fracture in the wrist and has returned to India, along with captain Kohli who is on paternity leave.

Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane has multiple crises to deal with and more questions than answers as he is getting ready to lead the team against the Australians who have ripped exposed many holes in his team. With the absence of all of the major players, the task will be nothing short of monumental for the right-hander to complete.

Virat Kohli’s departure was already announced and the team must have prepared for it if they have to stand a chance to earn the right to be called a great team, But the injury to Mohammed Shami may well turn out to be the clinching blow as he has been the mainstay of the resurgent Indian team on overseas tours where bowlers, in general, have risen to great heights, only to be let down by batsmen.

Captain Rahane will also have to muster the shuffling in the batting order after Kohli’s departure and possible changes into the playing XI due to the failures of Prithvi Shaw. Rahane and the team management has a tough call to make on Shaw regarding how severe his problems are. If the team management believes all the issues pertaining to Shaw’s batting are due to lack of form, they would have been tempted to persist with him after all the investment on him in the last two years. But, if they believe the Australians have ripped open the flaws in his technique and that he needs to go back to the drawing board, it opens the door for one of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul to play the Boxing Day Test.

Another contentious issue for Rahane and the team management will be to decide who will take the number four position of Virat Kohli. There were subtle hints as to the answer of this question in the two tour games India played under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane. Hanauma Vihari was promoted above Rahane to number four and it could have been signs of what was to come after Kohli’s departure. Promoting Vihari will also allow India to field five bowling options with Jadeja batting at the number seven position as Rishabh Pant is preferred over Wriddhiman Saha in search of more cushioning in the batting department.

That’s not all as far as Rahane's leading up to the MCG Test is concerned. He himself would be looking to find his lost pace and rhythm in his batting. Rahane would do well to remember how he counterattacked Mitchell Johnson and matched fire with fire against the left-arm quick in the 2014 series. But that old Rahane seems to be lost with a cluttered mind and indecisive footwork. 

Along with the captaincy, the stand-in Indian captain will also have to lead from the front, with the bat, and for that, he needs to talk to himself and clear doubts about where his off stump is and what kind of shots he wants to play against a different set of bowlers. Rahane is too good a player to miss out continuously for so long. India needs him more than ever to come good if they have to have any chance of unseating the Australians who are ready to come at him with all their might at the iconic MCG.

Australia vs India: Match Details

Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground

Date and Time: December 26-30, 05:00 AM IST, 11:30 AM Local, 11:30 PM (December 25) IST

Broadcaster: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV

Pitch report

The MCG pitch is likely to offer bounce to pacers and may also offer grip to the spinners. Indias are going to play the pair of Ashwin and Jadeja, and they can come in handy in the second innings if the batsmen can put up a big score in the first innings.

Various media outlets and journalists have shared the fact on social media that winds are howling rapidly in Melbourne and it can alter the plans of both teams while bowling.

Australian team management was not amused by the pitch they played on against India in the 2018 series which according to them, did not provide a fair chance for competition between bat and ball. Coach Justin Langer himself admitted in the press conference that the MCG curators were under huge pressure while preparing the pitch for the last Boxing Day Test against New Zealand last year and came up with a strip that challenges both batsmen and bowling.

Langer has hoped they will be given a chance to play on another pitch similar to the one at the Adelaide Oval which offered bowlers plenty of assistance to keep batsmen under check. In the last few years, pitches at MCG have not supported a lot of bounce and the Indian team would not hate the prospect of playing on a surface with a lack of bounce, especially against the pace of Australian pacers and their skills to extract extra kick off the pitch.

Team News

Australia

Both David Warner and Will Pucovski remain unavailable for the MCG Test. The hosts are all set to field an unchanged playing XI. Coach Langer said that one must be very brave to change a combination that worked so well for the team in Adelaide.

Joe Burns, who had come to the last Test with enormous pressure on him due to the lack of runs leading up to the game, showed signs of coming back into his own and hit a half-century in a winning cause. This development would have relieved the team management.

Although Matthew Wade failed to shine with the bat at the top of the order where he had never batted in all his career, Tim Paine and Justin Langer will not be losing sleep over it and would be hopeful of a similar performance like Adelaide to eliminate any chance of an Indian come back in the series.

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

India have a lot of decisions to take in all the aspects of the game, right from the question of handing Shubman Gill his Test debut to the replacement of Virat Kohli in the playing XI.

Ravindra Jadeja has been seen extensively in the net and is certain to walk back in the playing XI. It implies that he will come in to take the place of Virat Kohli as India opt to go in with an extra bowler in the absence of Mohammed Shami.

For some reason, it has been a set precedent that if the team is on the lookout for wicketkeeper-batsman while also looking for adding dimension into the batting line up, Rishabh Pant is preferred over Wriddhiman Saha who was selected in the last test, apparently for his better credentials behind the stumps. Crazy as it may sound, that’s how the team management has been deciding on the selection of wicketkeepers in the last 18-24 months.

There was a direct shootout between Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Sani for the place of the third seamer in the playing XI but based on their performances in the tour games, Siraj has been preferred for Test debut.

Strongest XI

Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rishabh Pant (Wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

Australia vs India: Dream 11 team and suggestion

Rishabh Pant, Mayank Agarwal, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Cheteshwar Pujara, Cameron Green, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Nathan Lyon

Captain: Steve Smith

Vice-captain: Cheteshwar Pujara

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