Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, Team India will be eyeing to make up for the humiliating loss they faced in Pune when they lock horns against Australia in the second Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore starting Saturday.
The visitors outshone India by 333 runs inside three days of the first Test to lead the four-match Test series by 1-0.
Kohli, who has led his Indian Premier League (IPL) team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to wonders at their home ground, is expected to put a stellar performance again to make his team rise from the dark.
Although Kohli’s batting hasn’t been up to the mark while playing for the national side here, the captain inside his aggressive mind knows how to utilise the flat and slow turner wicket of the Chinnaswamy to the fullest.
Having played just two Tests here earlier, Kohli scored 154 runs with a highest knock of 103 runs against New Zealand in 2012.
In the first Test at MCA Stadium, Pune, it was Steve O’Keefe whose heroics led Australia to the winning ways. O’Keefe claimed identical spell of 6 for 35 in both innings to wrap India for 105 and 107 in two innings respectively.
The Chinnaswamy wicket seems in perfect shape with a tinge of grass, a slow turner and flat pitch to assist batsmen to the fullest. However, the pitch is expected to break up in last two days.
Toss would play an important role here as whosoever bats first would look to exploit the early advantage.
So this time, batsmen will have an edge in first three days and later on the nature of the pitch would change. However, the main question remains which side would gain the maximum as it won’t end for a draw, most probably!
India’s head coach Anil Kumble, who has claimed 41 wickets here at his home ground including his 300th and 400th wickets, also agreed the Chinnaswamy wicket seems result-oriented.
“I’ve grown up playing on this ground. It’s generally been a good batting surface and yeah I am sure it will be a result wicket. That’s exactly what we want in a Test match… you want results. It’s always a good batting wicket,” Kumble said during the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
India’s batting line-up seems strong enough on paper to mark an impression. Despite having witnessed a batting collapse in the first Test, Kohli will probably go with an unchanged batting line-up.
However, in the bowling attack, Hardik Pandya may make his cut due to his all-round skills. On a batting surface like Chinnaswamy, a pinch-hitter like Pandya may contribute to impose pressure on the opposition.
Arguably Karun Nair, who scored a triple century on his second Test appearance, would miss the second Test, hinted the Indian coach. “He (Ajinkya Rahane) has been successful over the last couple of years. There’s no question about dropping him. It’s unfortunate that Karun Nair missed out after he scored that triple hundred, but it’s all for the team composition,” he said.
Steve Smith-led Australia would probably go with an unchanged squad, though with a unique plan to keep the winning momentum intact.
India Probable XI: Virat Kohli (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Jayant Yadav/Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav
Australia Probable XI: Matt Renshaw, David Warner, Steve Smith (C), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (WK), Mitchell Starc, Steve O'Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.