IND vs AUS LIVE – IND AUS Indore Pitch Report: India might face their biggest challenge in the Border Gavaskar Trophy yet. Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association has laid out a red-soil pitch with a lot of bounce for the Indore Test. Steve Smith & Co will relish playing on the surface with Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green both returning. For India, KL Rahul might face the axe, and Shubman Gill will replace the Karnataka opener in the Playing XI. FollowIndia vs Australia 3rd Test LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Although there would be turn from Day 3, Australia Cricket Team have the best chance to win in the series. But it will also force Rohit Sharma & Co to take a call on 3rd seamer. India have been playing with three spinners so far. But that may change.
So far, spin has dominated the discussions. Spinners have scalped 52 wickets so far to wrap up both Tests in three days. But the first hint of pace could in Indore. The last time India Cricket Team played a Test in Indore, Mayank Agarwal ended up scoring a double century while pacers rattled Bangladesh who were batting first. In fact, as India wrapped up the Test in 3 days, it was pacers who dominated proceedings.
IND AUS Indore Pitch Report: No respite from SPIN, Holkar Stadium lays out red-soil pitch with turn & bounce for 3rd Test, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates
However, despite a lot of international cricket of late, there haven’t been many Tests played at the venue. From ODIs and T20s, one thing is clear, batters will relish playing on this pitch, unlike Nagpur or Delhi.
Indore Pitch Report: Red-brick soil will favour pace and bounce early on. It will also help batters play shots unlike the previous two Tests. Australians are expert in playing on bouncy pitches and it will help them settle in Indore very well. That the average first innings score is 353 tells a story of how good the pitch could be for batting.
MPCA has especially called in red soil from Mumbai to prepare the Holkar Stadium pitch. Having played a lot in Mumbai, Australia would know what to expect. Red soil is prepared with crushed bricks. Due to the hard nature of it, the pitch tend to generate a lot of bounce, as seen in Wankhede or Brabourne stadiums.
However, as the match progresses, the roughs created by pacers will be heaven for spinners. In particular, Australians will be wary of Ravichandran Ashwin threat. India’s best off-spinner has a stellar record at the venue, averaging just 12.50. As Aussies are already scared of Ashwin, his record is enough to keep them on their toes.
IND AUS Indore Pitch Report: No respite from SPIN, Holkar Stadium lays out red-soil pitch with turn & bounce for 3rd Test, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates
Will India & Australia play 3 seamers? – The last time India played a Test, Virat Kohli was the captain and he opted to go with three seamers in Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami.
So farm Australia and India have only used two seamers each. Pat Cummins and Scott Boland have played for Australia while India have gone with Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj. It could change in Indore.
India may choose to bring in Jaydev Unadkat or Umesh Yadav to utilise the pace and bounce on the surface. In that case, Axar Patel may have to sit out.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav
Australia Squad: Steven Smith (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann
IND AUS Indore Pitch Report: No respite from SPIN, Holkar Stadium lays out red-soil pitch with turn & bounce for 3rd Test, Follow IND vs AUS LIVE Updates
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