India finally showed what they’re made of at home with a strong finish in the second Test in Bangalore. They’ll now be out to put Australia to the sword and take a series lead in the third Test in Ranchi.
The hosts came into the series expecting nothing less than a resounding victory, but Steve Smith and his troops surprised everyone, picking up not only a win – but a dominant one in the first Test in Pune.
The result left India stunned and with tempers flaring during a fiery second match in Bangalore, it’s all set to explode with the series on the line in Ranchi.
India bounced back to level the series, but it was far from convincing. After two days of play, Australia were well on top and on the verge of wrapping up the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
India were knocked over for 189 on a pitch where a first innings lead was going to be crucial. Nathan Lyon took eight wickets to destroy the hosts, and Australia then piled up 276, to take a commanding position.
India rallied in the second innings, making 274 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara led the charge for the hosts as he scored 92, supported by Ajinkya Rahane and Lokesh Rahul, who both scored half centuries in setting Australia a tough, but achievable 188 runs for victory.
The tourists crumbled much like the pitch though as Ravichandran Ashwin ran through them, taking 6 for 41 from 12.4 overs after taking the new ball. Australia were all out for 112 inside four days.
Only Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, David Warner, and Mitch Marsh made it into double figures.
Batting last in India appears to be kryptonite for both teams.
Third Test news
The big news to report coming into the match is the changes Australia have been forced into making.
Mitch Marsh will be missing from action for up to nine months with a shoulder injury and has returned home.
Marcus Stoinis has been flown to India as cover, although the chance of him playing in this third Test of the series appears minimal, despite the lure of a like-for-like replacement.
More on this later, but the options for Australia will include talented but inconsistent all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja, who has had his fair share of problems against spin.
Mitchell Starc is also missing for Australia, and arguably the bigger loss coming into this third Test. He is out for the rest of the series with a right-foot fraction. Pat Cummins has been flown over and is set to play ahead of Jack Bird who has been in India since the start of the series.
Both changes will have repercussions for Australia and the balance of the side and if they don’t come off, things could get very ugly.
History
Last five meetings
Mar 4-7, 2017: India defeat Australia by 75 runs at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Feb 23-25, 2017: Australia defeat India by 333 runs at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Jan 6-10, 2015: Match drawn at Sydney Cricket Ground
Dec 26-30, 2014: Match drawn at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Dec 17-20, 2014: Australia defeat India by four wickets at the GabbaLast five series
2014-15: Australia defeat India 2-0 (four-match series in Australia)
2013: India defeat Australia 4-0 (four-match series in India)
2011-12: Australia defeat India 4-0 (four-match series in Australia)
2010: India defeat Australia 2-0 (two-match series in India)
2008: India defeat Australia 2-0 (two-match series in India)
Win the toss and… elect to win?
If you have seen the image of the pitch, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, then let’s bring you in on the situation.
Put simply, the pitch is a disaster zone. If the Pune pitch was bad, and Bangalore wasn’t much better, this one could be the worst of the lot.
While looks can be deceiving and the pictures we have seen are from a few days before the match, things aren’t looking promising. There isn’t a blade of grass on the wicket, and according to curator SB Singh there were three pitches prepared for India to pick from.
No bounce will not assist the Australian quicks, nor Nathan Lyon. It should, however, play right to the strengths of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
It’s going to be a nightmare to bat on in the fourth innings for either side, so let’s call it now and say whoever wins the toss has increased their chances ten fold of winning the match.
Glenn Maxwell the man to come in for Australia
I’m not sold on Marcus Stoinis. I’m not sold on Glenn Maxwell either. The other option is Usman Khawaja, but he won’t get a run in India based on his struggles against spin.
Maxwell has to be the man. While he is inconsistent and drives everyone mad, he does appear to be turning a corner and could put in a big performance with the bat.
He can play spin, and will be aggressive no matter what. If he can come in down the order and add a quick 50 runs, that’s going to be a crushing blow in a low-scoring game.
It could backfire, but with the addition of his off-spinners, which are unlikely to get a run anyway he offers the most out of all the potential candidates for the no.6 role.
Here we go again – Virat Kohli to score runs
Maybe this will jinx the Indian skipper again? Who knows. I’ve said it ahead of both Tests so far and here we go again. Virat Kohli will score runs in Ranchi.
Coming off a home season where he has scored runs by the truckload, he has had four failures in a row and surely, surely there won’t be anymore from Kohli who has been in the thick of the verbal confrontation so far.
Both captains have been into it, with Smith looking at the dressing room for assistance using the DRS, and sledging from both sides getting beyond what most would consider an acceptable level.
It’s tough to say whether that is affecting Kohli’s game or if the weight of the series is simply messing with his head, leading to poor performances with the bat and over the top sledging, but expect him to make a statement in Ranchi.
India to play with two spinners again, rather than three
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja did the job beautifully for the hosts in Bangalore, and the chances of India bringing back Jayant Yadav as a third spinner appear slim for the third Test – but it’s the correct decision.
Despite the likelihood of the pitch spinning square, India will stick with the two pace bowlers – Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav – as well as the extra batsman in Karun Nair who scored a triple century on debut late last year against England.
Yadav bowled few overs in the first Test and with the pitch looking like one where every run is crucial, having Ashwin and Jadeja batting at eight and nine could be the difference between winning and losing.
Picking Jayant Yadav would be consigning India to effectively playing with ten men.
Pat Cummins has some big shoes to fill
There is no doubting just how big the loss of Mitchell Starc is for the Australian set-up and how tough the job is going to be for a returning Pat Cummins.
The New South Welshman has battled with injury throughout his career and has finally returned to fitness, being rushed into the squad for the match in India.
Working to his benefit is the fact innings are likely to be short and dominated by spin, so working with Josh Hazlewood, he shouldn’t have to bowl a heap of overs or long spells.
The injury factor is also a reason for Glenn Maxwell to play as it gives Australia another bowling option.
But as for Cummins, it’s likely to be tough work on a pitch unlikely to bounce or provide him any assistance. The pressure is on him to deliver with both bat and ball, replacing Starc who has effectively become an all-rounder.
Key game information
First ball: 3pm (AEDT) – 9:30am (local)
Venue: JSCA International Cricket Stadium
TV: Live, Fox Sports (Aus)
Online: Foxtel Go/Play
Radio: White Line Wireless and ABC Radio
Betting: India $1.57, Australia $4.15, draw $5.45
Overall record: Played 92, Australia 41, India 25, Drawn 25, Tied 1
Last five: Australia 2, India 1, Drawn 2
Australia
Likely XI and reserves
1. David Warner
2. Matt Renshaw
3. Shaun Marsh
4. Steve Smith (c)
5. Peter Handscomb
6. Glenn Maxwell
7. Matthew Wade (wk)
8. Steve O’Keefe
9. Pat Cummins
10. Josh Hazlewood
11. Nathan Lyon
Rest of squad: Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Swepson, Usman Khawaja
India
Likely XI and reserves
1. Lokesh Rahul
2. Murali Vijay
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli (c)
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Karun Nair
7. Wriddhiman Saha (wk)
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Ravichandran Ashwin
10. Umesh Yadav
11. Ishant Sharma
Rest of squad: Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Karun Nair, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Hours of play
| Start (AEDT) | Finish (AEDT) | Start (Local) | Finish (Local) | Duration | |
| Morning session | 3pm | 5pm | 9am | 11:30am | Two hours |
| Lunch break | 5pm | 5:40pm | 11:30am | 12:10pm | 40 minutes |
| Afternoon session | 5:40pm | 7:40pm | 12:10pm | 2:10pm | Two hours |
| Tea break | 7:40pm | 8pm | 2:10pm | 2:30pm | 20 minutes |
| Evening session | 8pm | 10pm | 2:30pm | 4:30pm | Two hours |
Hours of play are subject to change based on over rates, weather and match situation.
Prediction
As already talked about, the toss is going to have a large influence on the result of the match and could even decide it.
If the pitch plays up to what we have seen though, it may not matter who wins the toss. If it turns square from Day 1 and has no bounce for Hazlewood and Cummins, then India might as well claim victory now.
Australia will put up a fight, but it’s difficult to tip them winning even if they do happen to be in a strong position after a day or two.
India to take the series lead.
The Roar will have a live blog of each and every day played by the Australian national team, as well as highlights throughout the match.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Yes I do realise that. I meant that Starc is a loss because whilst he and Cummins are both quick, Starc uses swing more.
Thunder Nation
Guest
Lanecy what club do you play for bruz? 2nd grade for Bogainvillea? This test shoudl be called a draw and lets move into 4th test levelled this test will be done in 3 days
Pope Paul VII
Guest
So India wisely are going to play 6 bats to maximise their run chances while Australia will leave out a bloke averaging 47.94 on a punt?
Lancey5times
Roar Rookie
You found it tough to bat on?
Bakkies
Guest
That pitch is a disgrace and the match can't go ahead on that for safety reasons.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
India's playing XI most probably will be the same as mentioned in your article, but they have only 4 reserve players, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund and Bhubaneshwar Kumar as Hardik Pandya is out of the squad due to shoulder injury.
matth
Guest
Thanks for the info on the pitch. With I think 26 different test venues now, it is not surprising that there will be significant differences between them. India is a big country straddling many different climate and soil types, so it makes sense. It would be like non-Australian expecting Brisbane and Hobart to be the same. All I want is consistent bounce, at least for the first few days. When bounce cannot be predicted it becomes a lottery.
matth
Guest
Hanse Cronje used one to get instructions from the coach (or from the bookies).
Basil
Guest
Who's Strac?
ViratKohli
Roar Rookie
The writer has exceed expectations here, can we please have him writing on Club Cricket (sorry even FC deserves a better writer). The Bangalore pitch crumbled in the last innings - I watched a completely different match wherein the pitch actually got better, there were quite a lot of ex-players saying that India required a minimum of 300. I am sure Steven Waugh's side would have chased 200 playing last on that pitch. Then there is a prediction which is as confused as i have ever seen, starts with criticizing the over reliance on the toss and then toss becomes irrelevant and then he wants the test victory to be awarded at the end of day 2. Karun Nair is both in the playing XI and the non-playing XI - thats interesting - i thought India had only one Karun Nair.
jameswm
Roar Guru
I thought they might need the in-ear technology to hear the coach's call on whether to review a decision or not...
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cheers Bearfax.
Thunder Nation
Guest
Australia will be slammed hard in this test Lyon and SOK have had their luck India will feastupon their poor bowling Warner will fail Smith a duck Stoinis will fail Cummins will pull his quad Kohli will scream at the umpires and get awaqy with it Test over with 3 days
Scott Pryde
Expert
You're right. Typo on my part - now fixed.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Scott - As I have been saying for days (welll before the pitch photo was revealed) the multi day pitch in Ranchi will be low and slow. That's the nature of the soil. You can't prepare a hard bouncy deck in Ranchi. You can prepare a softer wicket but because of the nature of the undersoil, that would be an unmitigated disaster and be as bad as Pune. So it needs to be relatively dry. I have grown up playing on pitches in that part of the country, and they are quite unique. So there is no conspiracy here. The teams will have to prepare and handle it accordingly. The effort is to bring Test cricket into different parts of the country to encourage local talent and capture the audience that is now used to T20. On the 140-th anniversary of Test cricket, I am fully in favour of that. Looking forward to a truly absorbing Test and hopefully the Aussie batsmen have invested in the top of the line "in-ear" Bose noise cancelling earphones that will dull the Indian banter and all will be well! Let the games begin!
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Starc is in Sydney.
AlanC
Guest
Looking forward to another tough contest. The most fascinating contest, outside the Ashes, for many years.
Jameswm
Guest
Is the wicket really going to be that bad? I thought after Pune the Indians wouldn't risk another raging turner, because it makes our spinners harder to play too. Have they forgotten SOK's 12-for? Is that now a fluke? Also, I do not expect India to produce a wicket that makes the toss the deciding factor. That only gives them a 50/50 chance. So the pitch will either be horrid right from the start, or won't break up till days 3-4. I'd rather have Starc than Cummins. With no bounce likely, Starc's swing and reverse swing become important. I also wonder if Australia will go out with a strategy - either give it them verbally right from the start, or do not engage. For those saying Kohli got under his skin - it's not that hard when there are 11 of you mouthing off against one batsman, with basically no limits as to what you can say or do, getting in their face between overs, between balls. openly mocking them etc. The batsman never wins an argument, because he always gets out in the end. I certainly think our batsmen should not engage at all - talk only to each other, with encouragement and humour.
bearfax
Guest
Thanks for the extensive material Scott. Good summary of what is to become. I'm pleased with this series so far. Its been a great contest and neither side has really got on top of the other. The third test will be interesting, and the closeness of the sides so far, and Kohli's stirring of the pot, have raised the interest in this series substantially. Good to see. And though many might hate Kohli for what he says, its that old Mohamed Ali tactic. He'll have people hating him and people loving him, but he wont be ignored and he has increased the interest markedly. Whether Maxwell or Khawaja, I'm OK. Feel sorry for both of them because they've had that monkey on their back for years, and yet both are very talented cricketers. I think which ever one is picked, will do his part effectively
BurgyGreen
Guest
This game should be another ripper. Hopefully Australia win the toss and pick Maxwell.