IND vs AUS: Both teams look to surprise each other in first Test

Express News Service

NAGPUR: India are known to keep their cards close to their chest when it comes to announcing their playing XI. So it doesn’t raise eyebrows when India captain Rohit Sharma, while replying to a query on team combinations for the first Test, merely said “tomorrow 9 O ‘clock.”

However, what stood out was visiting captain Pat Cummins following the same path. Australia usually announce their team on the eve of the match but this time they preferred to go the other way apparently to keep the opponents guessing. The captains remained tight-lipped but with the situation, they are in, both teams, in all probability, could spring surprises once they exchange team sheets ahead of the all-important toss at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur on Thursday morning.

In absence of Rishabh Pant, India are bound to hand Test cap to either KS Bharat or Ishan Kishan, with the former favourite to walk away with the spot. But there can also be some interesting changes as far as the choice of batters (read Shubman Gill or Suryakumar Yadav as there is an indication that KL Rahul wouldn’t be dropped) in the middle-order is concerned.

“They bring different things to the table for us. Gill, we all know has been in supreme form in the last three to four months. Lot of big hundreds as well. Surya has shown in T20s what he is capable of and what sort of game he can bring to Test cricket as well,” Rohit said.

“Both are quality options for us and we haven’t yet decided who will play among the two guys. (For that) we have to keep all aspects of the game in mind. I will not give you guys anything today,” he said jokingly.

The suspense from the Indian side came as no surprise but Pat Cummins singing from the same hymn sheet was a novelty. “We have contemplated our playing XI and we are announcing it at the time of the toss tomorrow. Everyone is confident,” Cummins said.

The dry pitch means Australia are set to break their 35-year-old tradition by giving a debut to 22-year-old off-spinner Todd Murphy and giving him a chance to plot India’s downfall with senior offie Nathan Lyon. He seems to have overtaken left-armer Ashton Agar, who partnered with Lyon in Australia’s previous Test against South Africa in January. The Aussies last fielded two frontline off-spinners in 1988 when Tim May and Peter Taylor played together against hosts Pakistan.

As was reported by this daily, the visitors are also set to replace recovering Cameron Green with Peter Handscomb overlooking Matt Renshaw given the number of left-hand batters they already have in the team and the threat posed by India left-arm spinners on the surface tailor-made for the hosts. Handscomb also did some shadow practice adjacent to the strip on Wednesday giving a peek into team management’s strategy.

“The message to the boys is clear that we will follow the horses for courses approach. That is something we have spoken to guys at the start of the series and we will continue to do that. We have to assess what kind of conditions we are playing in and who are the right guys to counter those conditions. So we are quite open with all of those options,” Rohit answered when asked about the tough selection calls the team management has to take.

<br> NAGPUR: India are known to keep their cards close to their chest when it comes to announcing their playing XI. So it doesn’t raise eyebrows when India captain Rohit Sharma, while replying to a query on team combinations for the first Test, merely said “tomorrow 9 O ‘clock.”

However, what stood out was visiting captain Pat Cummins following the same path. Australia usually announce their team on the eve of the match but this time they preferred to go the other way apparently to keep the opponents guessing. The captains remained tight-lipped but with the situation, they are in, both teams, in all probability, could spring surprises once they exchange team sheets ahead of the all-important toss at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur on Thursday morning.

In absence of Rishabh Pant, India are bound to hand Test cap to either KS Bharat or Ishan Kishan, with the former favourite to walk away with the spot. But there can also be some interesting changes as far as the choice of batters (read Shubman Gill or Suryakumar Yadav as there is an indication that KL Rahul wouldn’t be dropped) in the middle-order is concerned.

“They bring different things to the table for us. Gill, we all know has been in supreme form in the last three to four months. Lot of big hundreds as well. Surya has shown in T20s what he is capable of and what sort of game he can bring to Test cricket as well,” Rohit said.

“Both are quality options for us and we haven’t yet decided who will play among the two guys. (For that) we have to keep all aspects of the game in mind. I will not give you guys anything today,” he said jokingly.

The suspense from the Indian side came as no surprise but Pat Cummins singing from the same hymn sheet was a novelty. “We have contemplated our playing XI and we are announcing it at the time of the toss tomorrow. Everyone is confident,” Cummins said.

The dry pitch means Australia are set to break their 35-year-old tradition by giving a debut to 22-year-old off-spinner Todd Murphy and giving him a chance to plot India’s downfall with senior offie Nathan Lyon. He seems to have overtaken left-armer Ashton Agar, who partnered with Lyon in Australia’s previous Test against South Africa in January. The Aussies last fielded two frontline off-spinners in 1988 when Tim May and Peter Taylor played together against hosts Pakistan.

As was reported by this daily, the visitors are also set to replace recovering Cameron Green with Peter Handscomb overlooking Matt Renshaw given the number of left-hand batters they already have in the team and the threat posed by India left-arm spinners on the surface tailor-made for the hosts. Handscomb also did some shadow practice adjacent to the strip on Wednesday giving a peek into team management’s strategy.

“The message to the boys is clear that we will follow the horses for courses approach. That is something we have spoken to guys at the start of the series and we will continue to do that. We have to assess what kind of conditions we are playing in and who are the right guys to counter those conditions. So we are quite open with all of those options,” Rohit answered when asked about the tough selection calls the team management has to take.