You meet fast bowlers everywhere in Perth. One of them was walking down Plain Street, which is a five-minute walk from WACA, with a bag of groceries. Mitchell Starc will be a little less calm once the clock strikes 10:20 a.m. on Friday.
This Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been simmering for quite some time. Rohit Sharma faced questions at the start of the home season in India in September and the final press conference in November was largely about easing the pain of a home series cloaked by trying to “do something special” in Australia. Pat Cummins has had a similar experience.
Some of the best Test
cricket in recent times has come when these two teams face each other, so it’s their fault that everywhere they go they get asked questions about it. A day after the first test, most of them seem to have been answered. Australia have their new opening batsman, Nathan McSweeney made a late push for the spot. India have KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana primed and ready in case they are needed. The only thing left is for experience to take over.
On Thursday afternoon, in front of an empty Perth stadium, the first day’s morning drills took place. Ordinary people would pose as captains of India and Australia to see how they would look on screen. It was easy to be transported to the moment when all of that will actually happen, and it’s just a dream away. One sleeps until Jasprit Bumrah enters. A dream until Steven Smith returns to number 4. A dream until Virat Kohli gets the crowd on their feet. One sleeps until Rishabh Pant is broadcast around the world through the stump microphones.
Chances are that
cricket, as fun as it is, comes with a little added flavor from the outside. The needle has already passed a little bit. Ricky Ponting’s quotes taken out of context set Gautam Gambhir off. India’s first efforts at private training caused a stir. Josh Hazlewood flew by when he said he was happy not to see Cheteshwar Pujara in the Indian team. Every type of fan will be satisfied with what the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will offer and the first ball is just a dream away.
Australia: WWLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
India: LLLWW
It’s been more than eight months since Australia played Test
cricket and it seems
Mitchell Starc He’s spent some of that time getting in the best shape of his life. He is now 34 years old. It shouldn’t look like a six-foot-high brick wall. You should also not bowl at speeds that turn the red ball into a red blur. It has been admitted that in a five-Test series, no matter how fit they are, the big three Australian fasts might need to be handled very carefully, but right now, with the series starting at Perth Stadium, where Starc has a average 19, then Moving to Adelaide for a pink-ball Test, in which Starc averages 18.72, they could well prepare to take some time off with the series already in the bag.
KL Rahul I can’t seem to get off this ride. He grew up as an opening batsman but had to debut in the middle order. He then got that spot at the top, but started losing his stumps too often for anyone to stay in that position. A return to the middle order, especially in white-ball
cricket, seemed to indicate that that is where his future lies. An 86 against England at No. 4 in January 2024 fostered that idea, but he has since weakened to the point of losing his place in the team. He will now open the batting in conditions that will not favor him against one of the best bowling attacks in the world.
Australia is as settled as it gets and has put its trust in McSweeney, whose ability to remain calm and collected has earned him the nickname “Buddha.”
Australia(probable): 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Nathan McSweeney, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Alex Carey, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (captain), 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Of course, India are without their full-time captain and are facing a minor personnel crisis, meaning they will arrive in Perth reliant on several fringe players. Padikkal (24), Jurel (23), Reddy (21) and Rana (22) are in line for a place in the XI. There may only be room for one spin bowler and R Ashwin could make the cut ahead of Ravindra Jadeja.
Having said all that, the last time India had a staffing crisis in Australia, remember what happened?
India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant, 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 9 Harshit Rana/Prasidh Krishna 10 Mohammed Siraj/Akash Deep, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Although unseasonable rain two days ago prevented Perth Stadium staff from leaving the pitch where they wanted, there has been plenty of sunshine since then, hardening the surface and getting it to where it should offer excellent pace and bounce. and carry. Chief curator Issac McDonald and his staff have been working to create a “happy medium between bat and ball”.
“This is the toughest challenge. So I give this message to everyone that if you come and perform in this country, your level of cricket will increase and your level will continue to increase. So we as a team are focusing on putting ourselves in challenges difficult so that we can be better and improve our cricket.
India stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah on how he has been motivating a somewhat young and inexperienced Indian team.
“It’s strange, you know, it’s basically been the same team for the last two or three years. So the opening week is very normal, everything is very relaxed. Everyone knows how to prepare. So it’s pretty fluid, you know.” . , all the meetings, training, all that kind of stuff. We’ve done it many times before with the same people. So, yeah, it’s just reaffirming what we do really well.”
captain of australia Pat Cummins He wasn’t prepared for so much continuity, but he’s still happy about it.
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