“Yes. I guess we are the underdogs.” Did he just say that? Yes he did.
For any Australia team, let alone cricket where it had conquered the world for well over two decades till not so long, to admit it is the second-best ahead of a duel is inconceivable.
But Steve Smith, the Australia captain, seems to have had a reality check, minutes before Australia’s last session before its four-Test series starts at the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s stadium from Thursday.
Smith, just like his teammates have done over the last week since arriving in India for the challenging tour, put up as brave a front as a visiting captain can. But the body language didn’t ooze confidence, perhaps knowing at the back of his mind that Australia is in for a bashing as worse as it received during its last tour to India four years ago.
Perhaps a look at the pitch shattered Smith’s confidence even further as the 22-yard strip, set to host its maiden Test, continued its transformation into a spinners’ paradise. The dry surface has made Smith, coach Darren Lehmann and selector on tour Trevor Hohns more food for thought about the combination.
It could well be possible that Ashton Agar or Glenn Maxwell could possibly be drafted into the XI at the expense of either Josh Hazlewood, the in-form pacer, or allrounder Mitchell Marsh come Thursday.
India, on the other hand, is in no such quandary. No doubt Virat Kohli’s men will also be considering the option of including Jayant Yadav at the expense of one of the three seamers who featured against Bangladesh. But irrespective of the team combination, India has every reason to believe it can stretch its unbeaten streak to 20 matches and Australia’s losing streak in Asia to 10 matches before moving on to Bengaluru next week.
R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would be desperate to have a go at the Australian batsmen, all of whom, including the experienced Smith and David Warner, are yet to prove their credentials against quality spin bowling.
Ashwin and Jadeja would be hoping to continue their form over the last nine Tests this season. Considering the fact that they are in, the off-spinner and left-arm spinner duo has every reason to believe it can surpass its combined tally of 53 wickets during Australia’s last Test series in India in 2013.
India’s batting attack, led by an inexorable Kohli, will also be keen to continue its stupendous form. While Kohli has been in silken touch, scoring a double century in each of India’s last four series, opener M. Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have consistently set the platform for the captain to snatch the game away from the opposition.
Add to that the fact that the Indian pace unit has given vital breakthroughs all through the long Indian season of Test cricket and it does make India a near-invincible unit while playing at home. So any opposition in such kind of a form would in fact be an underdog against Kohli’s cavaliers.
Can Smith’s men shed the tag off over the next five days?
The teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (capt.), K.L. Rahul, M. Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Karun Nair, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.
Australia: Steve Smith (capt.), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Glenn Maxwell, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Swepson.
