The prologue to the match revolves around Cheteshwar Pujara making his 100th Test appearance, who he would like to score with a century that will also restore a sense of stability to the hosts’ top order.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s century at Nagpur was an exception in the top order who couldn’t get the start, on the Nagpur rink offering a slow turnaround. You open KL RaulVirat Kohli and Pujara failed to make the most of the opportunity.
Rahul’s riddle
Time is running out for Rahul as Virat Kohli’s heir apparent Shubman Gill is waiting in the wings despite being in fine form.
Having squandered so many opportunities in his 46 Test career with an average of less than 34, it will be interesting to see what call will be taken by the Indian team management if the 30-year-old Karnataka man suffers another bust before the squad for the last two Tests are announced .
With Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja putting enormous pressure on the Australians during the hosts’ complete innings victory in Nagpur, it’s safe to say that another slow turner will greet the visitors at Ferozshah Kotla.
Unless Australia gets out of the skin, he won’t even be able to stretch until day five.
Special praise for a special player! 👏 👏Head Coach Rahul Dravid praises @cheteshwar1 as he prepares for his 1⃣0⃣0⃣t… https://t.co/IRKOuL1lVl
—BCCI (@BCCI) 1676468383000
Ferozshah Kotla’s tracks, after the initial moisture has dried, become as dead as a dodo.
India coach Rahul Dravid has not hesitated to admit that in the recent past it was the mid-level trio of Ravindra Jadeja, the now-injured Rishabh Pant and the re-fit Shreyas Iyer who saved the side in most of the games. occasions. .
Even in the opening Test, it was left to the duo of Axar Patel and Jadeja to beat Australia.
Kotla’s pitching promises to be slightly slower than Jamtha’s and hence, Indian batsmen must follow their captain’s model and employ a skillful combination of offense and defence.
With a shorter border on one side, captain of Australia Pat Cummins he will be cautious in bringing Nathan Lyon from the end of the Old Pavilion, as the lateral boundary of the leg would be just 60 meters.
RETURN OF IYER?
Shreyas Iyer completed his rehabilitation after sustaining a lower back injury and under the convention of current team management any player who was performing before being injured would resume his place in the playing XI.
Indeed, Dravid said that “if Iyer is able to bear the workload of five days of testing, he will enter the field”.
If anyone knows Dravid, the agents are always between the lines.
Iyer hasn’t played competitive cricket for more than 30 days and will it be risky to pitch him straight into a Test match even before his fitness is checked? It’s a complicated call.
In Surya’s case, more than being Iyer’s replacement, India are looking at him by replicating Pant’s cavalier approach in the middle order as Kona Bharat is more of a keeper who can also bat decently.
WARNER’S POOR FORM
David Warner’s weakness in Test matches has been a cause for concern for Australia. The way Mohammed Shami spun his stump didn’t look good and it remains to be seen whether he will get another chance.
With the Delhi rink also expected to offer the turn early in the game, Australia will be pushed hard to include a third spinner.
Mitchell Starc is another name Australia lost badly in Nagpur, and the visitors are hoping to get their best pacer back in the squad to bolster the pace attack with his experience on a track not useful to fast bowlers.
TEAMS
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (week), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishan Kishan (week)
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey (sep), Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscombe, Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Lance Morris, Mitchell Swepson, Todd Murphy, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc
(With agency input)
