Sydney’s unwarranted reputation as a spin haven could trick India into playing two spinners today in a move that would benefit the Australian batting line-up, which has struggled against India’s quicks.
Visiting spinners have averaged 80 with the ball across the past four Tests at the SCG, which includes Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin’s return of 5-247 at 4.41 runs per over four years ago.
Yet India yesterday named three spinners – Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav – and only three quicks in their 13-man squad for this Test, with in-form fast bowler Ishant Sharma unfit.
One of those three pacemen, Umesh Yadav would be an unappealing selection given his very poor performance at Perth, where he took 2-139 and was by far India’s most expensive bowler on a pitch tailor-made for fast bowling.
India made the glaring mistake of not fielding a spinner in that Test at Perth, where Australian tweaker Nathan Lyon bowled his team to victory with eight wickets.
Now it looks as if India might again misread a pitch and field a poorly balanced attack. Picking two tweakers and two quicks would see them fooled by the SCG’s unjustified reputation as being spin friendly – a hangover from a past era when it was the best pitch in Australia for slow bowlers.
That has not been the case for years now. Nothing underlines this better than Lyon’s record at his home ground in Sydney, where he has averaged nearly 50 from seven Tests.
Visiting spinners have been thrashed at the SCG the past few summers. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Ravi Jadeja was arguably the least threatening of India’s four bowlers in the last Test at Melbourne, which will only make it even more curious if India double-down on spin today.
Ishant is a major loss for India. He has been the least prolific of India’s main three quicks, with 11 wickets for the series compared to 20 for Jasprit Bumrah and 14 for Mohammed Shami. But Ishant’s vast experience (267 Test wickets) and wonderful consistency help glue together the Indian attack.
While he is not as intimidating as Bumrah or a natural wicket taker like Shami, Ishant has helped build immense pressure on the Australian batsmen. He has rarely bowled a bad over, let alone a bad spell, conceding a miserly 2.54 runs per over across the series. Ishant has been particularly challenging for Australia’s right-hand batsmen, bringing the ball back into LBW candidates Aaron Finch, Mitch Marsh and Peter Handscomb.
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
With Bumrah and Shami so dangerous against left-handers, this has given India’s pace attack a great mix. Umesh Yadav will be the quick to partner Bumrah and Shami if India decide against playing two spinners. He was well below his best at Perth, where he could not locate the correct length, too frequently dropping short or over-pitching.
There is also the possibility India could play five bowlers, with three quicks and two spinners. That would only be likely if Ashwin is healthy to play – he will reportedly undergo a fitness test this morning.
It would also be a departure from the six batsmen and four bowlers strategy which has earned India a 2-1 lead. Australia surely would be happy to see India field just two pacemen in this match. The visiting quicks have been fantastic in this series, particularly with the old ball. Australia’s batsmen have scored a huge number of 20s and 30s in this series – missed opportunities but also indicative of the ceaseless threat of the Indian bowlers.
Bumrah in particular has been outstanding with the weathered ball. He again shapes as the key for India, who have a chance to create history by winning their first Test series in Australia in history.
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