Australia backs mainstays ahead of Adelaide
AFTER what can only be described as a shellacking at the hands of the Indian test side over the weekend, the Australians are hanging tough amongst calls to exercise some hard calls at selection.
With the Adelaide test starting in 10 days, the 295-run loss in Perth is at the forefront of all of the discussion and discourse ahead of the second game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India was just about flawless in its domination over the four days, which saw stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah hit world-class form, taking eight wickets, while a fourth test century in the second innings announced young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal to Australia.
The only hurdle seemed to be their first innings dig which totalled 150 runs, however this looked better upon Australia’s first innings completion (104). Pace bowler Josh Hazelwood took four wickets in that half, helping to keep India to what was a manageable score prior to their second go.
India’s second crack at batting was where they showed their class, crushing the Australian bowlers. Alongside Jaiswal, both KL Rahul (77 off 176 balls) and former captain Virat Kohli stuck the course, with the latter making an unbeaten century before declaring, with India notching up 487 runs.
The tale of the tape was the batting performance of Australia, which saw only a solitary half ton from Travis Head amongst the highlights. The total runs across the two innings from the home side only combining for 342 runs, paling in comparison to India’s 637.
In team news ahead of the Adelaide test, Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that they will elect to not make many changes, sticking fat with the players that have done the job before. The only injury concern is all-rounder Mitch Marsh who remains sore after Perth.
With Head and Marsh returning to the side after paternity leave for the birth of their children, Australia will hope they will regain some form after some time out.
In contrast, India will be adding to their strength of their side by bringing back full-time test skipper Rohit Sharma from paternity leave. As well as Sharma, young batter Shubman Gill and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja could come back into the side with a thumb injury and selection keeping the pair out.