AUS vs IND: Tim Paine banking on 'willing' teammates to trump Virat Kohli and team

The Test series between Australia and India will be different in many ways and that is evident even before a ball has been bowled in the series, as the hosts who used to reveal their playing XI have opted to keep their cards close to their chests while the touring Indians have revealed their playing XI for the Adelaide Test in a move not commonly associated with them.

There are troubles for the home team's captain Tim Paine with many players battling injuries and some lack of form. The absence of David Warner and Will Pucovski has made the selection calls complicated for Paine and Langer who are now weighing options such as the promotion of Matthew Wade to the top of the order.

Paine did not disclose the exact tactics the team was willing to walk into the Test with but hinted strongly at giving Wade a go to open the innings. He praised the left-hander for showing a perfect attitude of a team man and pointed out the fighting spirit Wade had shown in the Test series against New Zealand when the Victorian had to put his body on the line against the barrage of short balls bowled by Kiwi bowlers.

"Look, he's (Wade) certainly an option to open the batting. No doubt about that. I think we've got a number of guys who are willing to open the batting. That says a lot about our group, not just Wadey. But Wadey in particular, we saw against New Zealand last year with the short-ball stuff, he's willing to put his body on the line for his team. We know he's as tough as nails and he'll do a good job no matter where he bats. It's been nice. Obviously, we have got a scenario where we could have a different opener and we've had a number of guys put their hand up to do it if that's the best thing for the team. That's a great thing for us as a side," Paine said on Wade’s credentials to open the batting for Australia in Tests.

Concerns do not end here for Paine as the other opener who was a near-certain starter in the playing XI for the Adelaide Test, Joe Burns, is horribly out of form. But even he is not short of support from his captain and the leadership group that includes coach Justin Langer.

Joe Burns was out of form in the first round of Sheffield Shield and hence was included in the Australia A team to find form but instead, the Indian pacers have been able to dent his confidence further by dismissing him cheaply in all the four innings he batted against them.

But, captain Paine has reiterated his confidence in Joe Burns and said that the right-hander might be short of runs with the bat, but not lacking anywhere in terms of building up towards the first Test. Paine said that Burns averaged more than 40 runs per innings in Tests and it speaks of his class and consistency over a long period of time.

"Speaking to Joe, I don't think he is (lacking confidence). He's been looking forward to this Test match. His build-up in terms of runs hasn't been great but if you look at the work he's done solely in Test cricket for this team, it has been very, very good. He averages just over 40 in Test cricket," Paine added.

Although the Aussie captain did not confirm that Burns will be included in the playing XI, he dropped the strongest hint that the right-hander may well get a look in, saying that the team will back him to come good in Adelaide. He also said the selection of Burns will provide stability to the team selection and ultimately will benefit the team in the long run.

"If Joe walks out to bat tomorrow, we have full confidence in him doing the job, there's no doubt about that. Stability in good cricket teams, in good sports teams, is really important. That's something we've tried to build over the last two years...and have that stability around selection, it takes the worry out of it for certain players," Paine added.

The cricket fans and pundits were wondering what could have been the reason behind Steve Smith’s return from the nets on Tuesday. In the end, it turned out the right-hander was feeling soreness in his back but the team management was relieved that Smith came back to train on Wednesday. Paine confirmed that there were no injury concerns about Smith and that he will certainly play and also be an important factor for the Aussies’ batting line up.

"He's played all the one-dayers. Once we got to Adelaide he batted for four days straight so his preparation has been pretty good... very good actually. He's been out in the middle of Adelaide Oval, batting under lights. We expect him to play. He's had a stiff back before. Yesterday was more precautionary; he's in to train today, so we'll see how he goes but yeah come tomorrow, whether he's fit and sore in the back, or stiff in the back - I think he normally gets up, gets through it and finds a way to score runs like he always does," the home team's captain said on Smith’s batting form and injury concerns around him.

Paine had also said that the loss in the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar series was hard to swallow for both him and the team and that they were looking for opportunities to get back strong momentum against the Indian team which has won the last two Test series between the sides. Paine would need his team to put up a strong performance to ward off the bad record in the recent past against Virat Kohli’s team.

AUS vs IND: Virat Kohli's 'new India' ready for every challenge in Australia

Indian captain Virat Kohli has warned his team to shed any sense of complacent on the back of stellar performance on the last tour of Australia as the men in lue is gearing up to face the hosts Australia from tomorrow at the Adelaide Oval. He reminded his players about the difference in challenges they are likely to encounter in the upcoming series that they faced and won in the last series in 2018-19. ‘Stay in the present’ He reiterated the ‘staying in the present’ that the vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said yesterday and said that the team is looking to win the Adelaide Test as their main priority before heading for the other Tests. "I like to keep things simple. I do not quite carry forward anything from the past. It is very important to stay in the present and understand the process you are going through. Last time around, our challenge was different. Starting in Adelaide, we had a goal, which we wanted to achieve - we wanted to win, so it was important to start well. The goal remains similar this time as well," Kohli said in the pre-match press conference conducted virtually on Wednesday. Pink ball challenge Of all the different challenges waiting for the Indian team, the fact that this series will start with a day-night Test will be the most potent one for the tourists who had won the first Test of the last series they won in Australia and Virat Kohli is not shrugging off from it. He pointed out that the pink ball will move more than the red ball and that playing, especially batting, becomes very tricky under lights. However, he put his faith on his team and backed them to come up with strong defence and tactics to counter whatever challenges will be thrown at him and the team. "Pink-ball Test is probably going to be a bit more challenging in terms of conditions and how the ball moves around in the evening and stuff like that. For us as a team, it is about adaptability. Probably, the focus will be to understand the situations we are presented with and counter that as best as possible with our abilities. Every challenge is new and different and you have to understand the difficulties and requirement to fulfil that particular challenge and hopefully, make sure you come out on top," Kohli added. Reliance on young players Bucking the usual trend in Indian cricket of not disclosing the playing XI before the toss of a Test match, the Indian team released their playing Xi for the Adelaide Test, showing signs of a team who is assured about the tactics and role of players going into a big game. Prithvi Shaw has been picked to partner Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order while Wrridhiman Saha has been preferred over Rishabh Pant for the wicketkeeper's slot and Umesh Yadav has been selected to fill in the voids of Ishant Sharma. Kohli had dropped hints about retaining Shaw at the top of the order who has not been in great touch and does not have the statistics in his favour for a strong case to trump Gill who looked great in warm-up games. However, the class of Gill has not gone unnoticed and Kohli said that he will get opportunities at some point of time sooner rather than later. He also praised Mayank Agarwal for showing character on the last tour when he was called in mid of the series to open the batting. "They are obviously very talented and that's why they are here. Shubman (Gill) hasn't got opportunities in Test cricket yet. So, as and when he gets opportunities, it needs to be seen how he goes about things. He is a confident young man. Prithvi has performed well at Test level, but he will be playing in Australia for the first time, so it's very exciting to see his progress as well. Mayank came around in the last tour and batted brilliantly without any baggage. That's what you expect from the younger guys - just go out there, express themselves and play fearless cricket," Kohli said of the Indian top-order which is heavily reliant on young players. ‘Representation of New India’ Virat Kohli has an outstanding record as a batsman in Australia and has batted with supreme attitude and flair and whenever he has got the opportunity to take the attack to the opposition, he has not backed away from getting under their skins. A few days back, former Australian captain and Indian coach Greg Chappell had said “most Australian non-Australian” cricketer of all time. Virat did not shy away from responding to such words from Chappell and responded about the brand of cricket both him and the Indian team under his leadership want to play. He said that the Indian team of now has started to stand up to the challenges posed by the Australian and it does not matter to him if his mindset is comparable to an Australian or not. "I have always been myself. The way my personality and character is... it is the representation of a new India. For me, that's how I look at it. It's not a comparison of me being similar to an Australian mindset or anything like that. It's how we have started to stand up as a team, and my personality has always been like this from day one," Kohli said. Playing in Australia Kohli has had an interesting time while captaining or playing with the Indian team in Australia. He was rebuked for reacting in an obscene manner against Australian spectators whom he had called hostile in his first series down under in 2011-12. However, as his stature grew with the number of runs he kept on piling in the country after hitting his debut century at the Adelaide Oval in his very first series, the crowds in Australia started to respect his style and flair of batting and aggressive intent on the field and Kohli too accepted that fact. "It's a wonderful place to play cricket. When you play well here, you earn the respect of the public and there is anticipation and chat around, wanting to see you play. Similarly with Jasprit as well. Last time, he performed really well, so there is going to be anticipation and excitement to watch him bowl," Kohli added. Leadership and Ajinkya Rahane Virat Kohli will return home after the first Test for the birth of his child and many experts and fans believe that the real test for the men in blue will begin after his departure. Kohli has been the mainstays of the Indian batting line up, more so since the time he was promoted to lead the side in the very country after MS Dhoni had decided to hang his boots in Test cricket in 2013-14 series. Kohli became the first Indian captain to lead the country to a series win in Tests in Australia and hence, it is understood the level of analysis that is happening on the aftereffects of his early departure. But, Kohli believes that his deputy, Ajinkya Rahane is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the team and that he will do a great job once he leaves for India. He said that the strategies the team has been making since they have taken the leadership position has been a collective effort and not just him taking all the crucial decisions and that familiarity with the decision making process will help Rahane take important decisions on and off the field. "We have had a lot of mutual understanding over the years. We have had some great partnerships batting together, which is based on trust. Jinks has done a tremendous job in the two practice games. He seems to be very composed and he knows the strengths of our teams and how we need to go about it. The way we have played the game has been a collective effort. It's a cultural effort and not just me strategising things and putting things in front of people, it's the whole team that's involved. We already know the template we play with and how we are to go ahead. We are absolutely on the same page and I am sure he (Rahane) will do a tremendous job in my absence. The focus remains, till the time I am here, to be able to provide captaincy and leadership and performances to the best of my abilities," Kohli said of Rahane. Ajinkya Rahane has the experience of leading the side in two test matches- once when Kohli had injured his shoulder against Australia in the 2017 Border Gavaskar series and on another instance when Kohli was rested for a one-off Test against Afghanistan, both played in India. India had won both the Tests Rahane had captained but challenging a full-strength Australia in their own backyard will be a completely different ball game altogether and Rahane does not have the luxury of captaining an Indian team that has Virat Kohli as its premier batsman like Virat Kohl, the captain has.

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 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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