Australia’s spinners might have combined for 17 wickets in the shock Test win over India, but it is pacemen Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood who will be the key on upcoming flat pitches.
The ability of Australia’s gun quicks to make breakthroughs with the new ball and then reverse swing the older version will be central across the final three Tests, which are expected to feature much more batting-friendly strips.
Indian media have reported that, after being obliterated on a raging turner in the first Test at Pune, the home team are likely to request docile decks for the remaining three Tests. This makes sense, given how India dominated England 4-0 on tame home pitches during their recent five-Test series.
Starc and Hazlewood are among only a handful of Test quicks who have the skills to remain effective on such lifeless surfaces, along with the likes of England’s Stuart Broad and South African Dale Steyn.
That Aussie pair have had to learn how to master batting paradises, which have been common during Australia’s past three home summers. Devoid of the pace and bounce typically associated with Australian pitches, many of the recent Test strips down under have been sleepy, requiring pacemen to produce movement through the air or off the seam to be successful.
Starc and Hazlewood are not just lions with the new ball but also masters of getting it to hoop around when it becomes weathered.
At Pune, spinners Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon were Australia’s strike weapons on a parched surface which offered wild spin and bounce from the first hour of the Test. But if the remaining pitches are as unresponsive as those England received in their recent five-Test series in India then O’Keefe and Lyon will be used more as stock bowlers. Their task would be to bowl long spells and build pressure, in between short, sharp bursts of swing bowling from Starc and Hazlewood.
That’s not to suggest that Lyon and O’Keefe will be sidelined, as both of them will remain crucial to Australia’s hopes of securing an unexpected series win. Rather, it’s a recognition that Australia’s strength still lies with their pacemen, even after O’Keefe’s heroics at Pune.
O’Keefe and Lyon will find things far more difficult if the upcoming pitches are as dull as expected. While India’s batsmen floundered in the face of extreme turn and bounce in the first Test, they have a track record of dominating visiting spinners on batting-friendly strips.
It is impossible to predict exactly how the Bangalore pitch will play, but vision of it so far shows it is not anywhere near as dry as the deck at Pune. The general consensus among the cricketing media is that it looks as though it will be a great track for batting.
It seems India are banking on their ability to defeat Australia in a batting shootout, just as they did repeatedly to England, who made three good first innings totals yet still were flogged across the series.
On a batting-friendly deck, India’s batsmen would fear Starc and Hazlewood more than O’Keefe and Lyon, regardless of what happened at Pune.
The Australian quicks will be fresh as the morning breeze after barely being needed in the first Test, combining for only 20 overs and figures of 3-56. In that limited number of overs, both Starc and Hazlewood found some thoroughly testing reverse swing. The abrasive nature of both the pitch and the outfield allowed Hazlewood to reverse the ball in just the seventh over of the first innings.
It will take longer than that on a far lusher Bangalore ground. Nonetheless, it is Australia’s quicks who will pose the bigger threat to India at Bangalore, and perhaps across the remainder of this series.
George
Guest
Handier than M Marsh possibly.
George
Guest
Woakes and Ali rather than Jordan and Patel.
boxingkoala
Roar Rookie
It certainly does.
qwetzen
Guest
I'm just not convinced by Starc recently. He's got lower in delivery and is bowling more round-arm, and lower. I suspect he's got his action out of whack by trying to bowl too much reverse.
El Loco
Roar Rookie
After nearly 40 years (gawd) of immersion in cricket the mysteries of reverse swing still elude me, so no comment on that. The one thing with Starc is I feel like I'm still waiting for him to memorably rip through a batting lineup. If it's this test, I'm happy.
Broken-hearted Toy
Guest
Anderson is a load better than he used to be. He's like Lyon now. He can hang around annoying the hell out of people.
Rob JM
Guest
Steve O'keefs 1st class record in Sub continent, 42 wickets @14! Are Ashwin and Jadeja really in the same class? We shall see.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
If you mean all the talk about Voges average being over inflated by playing on flat tracks against poor opposition, no I certainly didn't. But that doesn't apply to Starc. Last summer the first two tests against NZ were played on absolute roads where lots of runs were scored and all bowlers struggled for any sort of penetration. All except for Starc who was a complete level above everyone until he got injured during the first innings in Adelaide and therefore didn't get the chance to beat up on the West Indies. He then completely dominated in conditions that made every other Aussie player look horrible in Sri Lanka and then got injured in the leadup to this Aussie summer where he barely made it back for the first match and therefore really just slowly worked his way into the summer coming back from injury and yet still bowled pretty well.
Bakkies
Guest
Excellent. Australia do well at grounds like Centurion and the Wanderers which are at altitude
Bakkies
Guest
No it doesn't mean all bowlers are averaging 40. The spinners would leak 100 runs each and change bowlers get a few overs
Bakkies
Guest
Hazlewood showed in Pune that he could stonewall like Dizzy in his prime. His one off 31 balls provided Starc with a much needed batting partner
Don Freo
Guest
I have a eguh sinep too.
Ruminate
Roar Guru
Hazy averages 16and Lyon 13, that's hardly the worst 10-11 combo! Don't forget that Pattisons no mug either
Steele
Guest
Really? This pitch will be low and slow. Id be shocked if our spinners out performed the Indians again in such conditions. We have better quicks though I doubt it will be enough. Smith is only one guy, we need more from others. Warner appears to be a home track specialist, hopefully he proves me wrong. Shaun Marsh seems to either get single digits or triple figures so hopefully it's his turn for the latter. But like I said if this is a flat wicket we need a strong batting line up as the Indians will make plenty. Mitch Marsh at six is cause for concern as always.
qwetzen
Guest
Chris, did you miss the Great Voges Debate?
Rob JM
Guest
I don't think india are confident they can outscore a team containing their nemesis, Steve Smith. Having a guy score five centuries against you in five test cannot do wonders to your self belief.
BurgyGreen
Guest
Jayant isn't a genuine tailender. He has a Test century. Doesn't mean he's a genuine allrounder but he's definitely more than handy.
Rob
Guest
Chris, what you have just said about 5 bowlers is very much a necessity in Indian conditions. Playing 4 bowlers and 6 batsmen is very dangerous. The indian top 5 can all score big runs. I also think Starc and Havelwood are top class bowlers that can worry any batting line up but all team struggle in the field once 100 over mark comes. SOK has shown that he can hold his own. In my opinion the questions are still around the best mix of Lyon, Maxwell, Bird and Mitch Marsh. Being 1-0 up Australia could really extend the batting depth by picking Maxwell at 6, Wade 7, M.Marsh 8, Starc 9, SOK 10, Hazelwood 11.
Steele
Guest
No doubt India will believe they can out score Aus on a flat pitch. And so they should. With Mitch Marsh at six and an underperforming Wade at seven plus Lyon and Hazlewood being limited with the blade it really isn't hard pressed to imagine we might not get within cooee of them. Our batting looks paper thin comparatively. It is a long tail.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
So Starc averaging 23.3 in a series that was dramatically dominated by the batsmen as a really high scoring series when no other bowler had any real penetration somehow doesn't count?