Kolkata : Adelaide is decked up for Day Night Pink Ball Test ; 2nd Test of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, starting from December 6, 2024.
India defeated Australia by 295 runs in 1st Test at Perth & are 1-0 up, under captaincy of stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah.
Adelaide is the very same venue where India were bowled out for 36 runs in 1st Test of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2021-22, before making a historic comeback in remainder of the series.
In this Test Match, India’s skipper Rohit Sharma is set to return to the side after paternity leave in 1st Test.
However, he confirmed that the successful opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul will remain unchanged and he might Bat somewhere in middle order. The return of India’s successful spin duo of Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in Adelaide is still uncertain. Rest of squad showed good fiery form in Adelaide.
Along with Rohit, Shubham Gill might comeback into the squad after recovering from finger injury, therefore both might replace, Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel respectively, who looked out of touch.
On other hand, Australia, like wounded tigers, would want to seek revenge, else things might look difficult for them in the road to World Test Championship 2025 Final. In 7 Day and Night Tests at Adelaide till date, Australia have won all and therefore carry great experience and confidence in this format.
Australia have issues of their own from the loss of Josh Hazlewood to a side injury (Scott Boland or Beau Webster might be replacement), concerns over the productivity of the Batting and uncertainty over how much of a Bowling workload Mitchell Marsh can manage even though there is an expectation he will take the ball in Adelaide.
PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS :
There are showers and thunderstorms forecast for the opening day, which appear likely to interrupt play and could stretch into the second day as well, but after that the weather is fine so there should be plenty of time for a result.
Damien Hough, the Adelaide Oval groundsman, is now very attuned to producing surfaces for day-night Test cricket. This season, he has also made one for a pink-ball Sheffield Shield game and the Test strip will have the same amount of grass – 6mm – left on. “Whether it’s a red ball or a pink one, we’re trying to replicate the Shield and the Test preparation… very similar preparations,” Hough said. “The Shield pitch showed if you didn’t get a new ball under lights, and you had a couple of set batters in, you’re able to see through some night-time cricket.” Lyon, meanwhile, said he expected the surface to take turn.
But pace has been the most potent weapon at the Adelaide Oval with the quicks managing 173 wickets at 26.98. Mitchell Starc’s six for 66 against Pakistan is the best spell by a bowler at the ground.
The spinners have taken 47 wickets in the seven day-night Tests here at an average just above 38. Out of these 28 have been grabbed by Nathan Lyon who has played all seven games.
CAPTAIN’S CORNER :
Rohit Sharma will return to lead the side. This is is first Test as captain in Australian soil and after humiliation in hands of New Zealand at Home soil, ‘Hitman’ would like to blow away all the pressure and challenges thrown on him.
“We are mentally strong, and for us, adaptation is not a problem. We try to give our best in difficult situations. At the highest level of cricket, you will not get easy things. Even in Perth, we did not have all our players, but everyone kept their heads down, played their part, and the result was in our favour. We have to approach this Test match in the same way. If all eleven play their roles, the result might be in our favour,” Rohit Sharma said at the pre-match press conference in Adelaide.
Aussie skipper Pat Cummins defeated Indian team in World Test Championship 2023 Final , but is yet to win Border Gavaskar Trophy. He would want to turn things around in the Adelaide Test after being hammered at Perth.
“Any Test there’s pressure, when you are down there’s that little bit more, especially when you are home. But we’ve been in similar situations, whether it’s World Cups or other series where you are in a kind of must-win situation – we aren’t quite there yet. But everyone has a lot of personal pride, professional pride, so there’s pressure on you any time you play from that, let alone the scoreboard being down 1-0”, Pat Cummins said
HEAD TO HEAD
India and Australia have faced each other in 108 matches in Test. Out of these 108 games, India have won 33 whereas Australia have come out victorious on 45 occasions. 30 Matches ended with tie. However, Australia never won Border Gavaskar Trophy after 2015-16 series.
Total Matches: 108
India Won: 33
Australia Won: 45
Tie: 30
EXPECTED PLAYING 11
India (Possible Playing XI):
(1) KL Rahul
(2) Yashasvi Jaiswal
(3) Shubman Gill
(4) Virat Kohli
(5) Rohit Sharma (C)
(6) Rishabh Pant (WK)
(7) Nitish Reddy
(8) Washington Sundar
(9) Harshit Rana
(10) Jasprit Bumrah
(11) Mohammad Siraj
Australia (Possible Playing XI)
(1) Usman Khawaja
(2) Nathan McSweeney
(3) Marnus Labuschagne
4 Steve Smith
5 Travis Head
6 Mitchell Marsh
7 Alex Carey (WK)
8 Mitchell Starc
9 Pat Cummins (C)
10 Nathan Lyon
11 Scott Boland.
