IND vs AUS: India look to extend home dominance as Australia seek to end long wait

Team India will hope to continue their dominance on home soil while Australia seek to end a long wait when the two sides lock horns in the first of four Tests in Nagpur starting Thursday.

The Indians have had a near-perfect home run recently: beat both Australia and South Africa in limited-overs fixtures ahead of the T20 World Cup, and pulled off similar results against Sri Lanka and New Zealand last month, including winning six one-dayers in a row.

With the white-ball games done and dusted for now, it’s time for the Indian team to shift its attention to their only home red-ball assignment of the season, with the 16th edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy set to get underway in less than 24 hours.

Australia are coming off a dominant home season having knocked over both West Indies and South Africa with relative ease in Tests. Though facing India, in India, is a different proposition entirely.

India, after all, are considered one of the toughest places in the world to tour. The last time they lost a series at home in any format came in the form of a stunning 3-2 ODI reversal against the Aussies in 2019. The record is even more clinical when it comes to the Test format, with the Indians having lost just three Test assignments on home soil since the start of the millennium, the last of which was against England in 2012-13.

And forget beating them in their own backyard, Australia haven’t beaten India in a Test series for more than eight years now, their last victory coming in the form of a 2-0 win in the 2014-15 season. India, on the other hand, have won two Test series in a row on Australian soil. A massive triumph for a side that hadn’t won a series Down Under ever before.

Australia, eager to dish out a similar treatment to the Indians, had come quite close the last time they toured India, going 1-0 up in the four-match series in early 2017 with a commanding victory in Pune and grabbing a sizeable first innings lead in Bengaluru in the next game, only for the Indians to fight back in style and preserve their winning run at home.

But the task is not an impossible one, and the Australians return to the venue where they conquered the ‘Final Frontier’ more than 18 years ago under Adam Gilchrist. The Pat Cummins-led side will seek inspiration from that performance as well as from the fight that they displayed in their 2016-17 visit as they look to upset the apple cart and get the Border-Gavaskar Trophy back in their possession after more than eight years.

Read | How India vs Australia could decide the WTC standings

And it’s not just legacy that’s at stake in the series. The two teams look to be in good place for the World Test Championship final but have yet to make it official. Both Sri Lanka and South Africa are mathematically in contention, and a series defeat for India might just be a ray of hope for them. Australia, meanwhile, have a healthy points percentage of 75.56, and should go through even if they fail to regain the silverware.

Kuldeep vs Axar

The biggest talking point ahead of the four-Test series has been the return of the Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja pairing, with the latter set to make his first appearance for the Indian team since undergoing a knee surgery last year. The Ashwin-Jadeja combo has been at the forefront of India’s domination at home in recent years, becoming near unplayable on the raging turners Day 3 onwards, and what makes them even more invaluable is their contributions with the bat (both have multiple Test centuries to their name).

While the two are among automatic picks for India XI for the first two Tests, there are several spots in the side that will need a lot of pondering over, including that of the third spinner, where left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel are in a direct battle.

Also Read: Spin on everybody’s mind at Jamtha ahead of first Test

Both Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Bangar have extended their support to wrist spinner Kuldeep, the latter describing him as a “big impact player”. Kuldeep, on his part, has made the most of the opportunities handed to him. In his latest Test appearance, Kuldeep scalped an eight-wicket match haul on a flat Chattogram wicket.

Read | Kuldeep will play ‘a major part’ if India are to beat Australia, feels ex-selector Sunil Joshi

Despite those credentials, however, Axar is considered the likelier candidate for the third spinner’s slot. Not only did Axar do well with the ball to fill the void created by Jadeja’s temporary absence, it’s also his performance as a batter and a gun fielder that makes a difference.

Also Read: India tempted to play three spinners but you never know, says Rahul

There are similar questions to be answered in the batting department. Shubman Gill had opened alongside KL Rahul during the Bangladesh Tests with skipper Rohit Sharma sitting out with a thumb injury. Rohit is back, and his deputy Rahul is likely to open alongside him, meaning Gill will have to pushed down the order where he will compete with Suryakumar Yadav for the slot vacated by Shreyas Iyer, who will miss the first Test with a back injury.

A similar debate will take place for the keeper’s slot with Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid having to choose between Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat for Rishabh Pant’s replacement, and the hosts might want to pick the better keeper of the two, especially to the spinners on turning wickets.

Green to sit out

The Aussies, too, are grappling with a host of fitness-related issues. Key pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are injured.

Scott Boland, who has had a terrific home summer but is yet to play an overseas Test, becomes an automatic pick in the pace department in their absence, and it remains to be seen if the visitors hand uncapped pacer Lance Morris, an exciting prospect given his raw pace and ability to extract reverse swing, a debut of go in with an extra spinner.

Just as worrisome for the Aussies is Cameron Green’s fitness. The Western Australia all-rounder has been a revelation for the Aussies, especially in recent months in which he’s made himself an integral member of the lineup, and was in superb form during the South Africa Tests, collecting 5/27 and scoring an unbeaten 51 in the Boxing Day Test before getting hit on the thumb that has ruled him out of action since.

Though Green has travelled with the squad and even attended the training session at Jamtha ahead of the first Test, former skipper Steve Smith admitted his participation was extremely unlikely. On the eve of the first Test, Pat Cummins confirmed Green’s absence.

It leaves the door open for Matt Renshaw who replaced him in the third Test against the Proteas in Sydney. His inclusion in Nagpur could result in the Aussies having five left-handers in their top seven, which no doubt will entice off-spinner Ashwin. Peter Handscomb is another option for the spot if Australia want to bring a right-hander into the mix.

Additionally, Nathan Lyon has been as much part of the conversation in the build-up to the series as Ashwin and Jadeja. The senior off spinner, having 460 Test wickets to his name, can have a massive on Australia’s fortunes whichever part of the world they’re playing. What is a doubt, however, is his spin partner in the upcoming game; they could bring in Ashton Agar for his left-arm angle, or opt for an extra off-spinner in the form of uncapped Todd Murphy.

Pitch and conditions

Nagpur is the venue where Australia clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2004 with a commanding victory but the surface that will be used for the series opener come Thursday isn’t remotely similar to what the Shashank Manohar-led VCA had prepared back then.

While the 2004 wicket was a green top that allowed their pace department comprising Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz to shine, the wicket prepared this time around appears to be every bit a typical turner in the subcontinent.

“Pretty dry, particularly one end. I think it will take a bit of spin, particularly the left-arm spinner taking it into our left-handers. There’s a section there that’s quite dry.

“The cracks felt quite loose. I’m not entirely sure we’ll wait and see,” senior Australian batter Steve Smith said in the build-up to the game, hinting at another spin-dominated rubber on Indian soil.

Squads:

India (1st and 2nd Tests): Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Time: 9.30 AM.

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