India vs Australia 2nd Test Preview: Aussies must draw inspiration from India’s 2020-21 tour to bounce back in Delhi

Australia must be under pressure to come back strongly in the 2^nd Test after all that transpired in  Nagpur. To lose in two-a-half-days is never a great start but the visitors must know that a part of the problem over there was self-inflicted. I am talking about leaving out Travis Head. Agreed that he has had his problems playing in the Indian subcontinent in the past but a team must allow a player to improve, develop and get better. Additionally, his form coming into the series had been excellent. He had the much-needed confidence coming to play in conditions he had not done well before. That’s why I found Head not playing very strange. Sometimes, as a team, you can overthink things and maybe it was the same case in Nagpur.

Mitchell Starc’s inclusion a huge boost to Aussies

It looks like Mitchell Starc is going to play Delhi Test, which could be a huge boost to them in more than one way. One, Starc has this great skill to pick wickets at the back-end. He is definitely someone who Australia missed in the first match to do exactly the same job. If you look back to first Test, Australians were still competitive on the first two days. By the end of Day 2, Jadeja and Axar started to take things away from them. Starc could have been the partnershipbreak here and India may have failed to get to 400 in the first innings.

Starc gets the ball moving laterally in air, bowls with extra pace. He is a type of bowler who can break stubborn partnerships in the middle. That is why his inclusion is a big plus.

Secondly, Starc will create a lot of rough on the off stump for the right-handers with his follow through. Assuming Australia play Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, he will help create more rough patches for them. The downside is that the patches will also benefit R Ashwin. But Australia must focus on how it can be a positive thing for them. They have two off spinners who are certain to play and they should look at creating opportunities for them.

Take inspiration from India

Talking about positive thoughts, Australia should probably take inspiration from how things went for India on their 2020-21 tour to Australia when in the first Test, they got bundled out for 36, at Adelaide. This is a pretty similar sort of situation for Australia in this series. India had a couple of days to think over things before Melbourne. With a three-day Test in Nagpur, Australia too are in a similar situation. They have had some time to gather their thoughts, get back together as a team. The practice facilities may not have been perfect for them but they have got time to reassess and reset ahead of the Delhi Test. After the Adelaide disaster, India’s comeback in Melbourne was very inspiring. It is time for visitors to take this inspiration and bounce back in Delhi.

Back Warner

As much as I would want Ashton Agar to play, I cannot find a way to get him in, especially with the way Murphy bowled in his debut Test. What an extraordinary debut match he had with a seven-wicket haul to boast. What a dream debut for him really. Everyone pinned their hopes on Lyon to pick wickets but Murphy overshadowed him. I feel Lyon would want to step up a little in remaining Tests. He clearly was not at his best in Nagpur. But he is a high -class performer and you expect him to make an impact in the next match.

Think Lyon and Murphy will play again as two spinners. There’s no way Australia can pick three spinners unless they go with just one seamer. With Cameron Green fit, he obviously brings back the balance of the side but I am not sure whether he is still fit enough to play the 2nd Test.

I thought the selection of Peter Handscomb was right. He plays spin-well, bats right-handed in the batting order filled with left-handers. So, that was a fair call.

There’s been a lot of speculation with out-of-form David Warner. For me, he surely plays the 2nd Test. The last thing Australia wants to convey to India is that there is a lot of panic and uncertainty in the camp. Warner is one of their leading players and at this time, he needs some backing. Now is not a time to create uncertainty. They still have got a good top order. Marnus and Steve Smith showed glimpses of brilliance. They are two world class players. What you need sometimes is a bit of inspiration from someone to get a big score and inspire the whole unit. Not all is lost yet and I fully accept Australia to bounce back.

Fit-again Shreyas Iyer must play

I still feel that Shubman Gill should play. But I don’t think India would make any change now to the winning combination. So, KL Rahul will be opening again with Rohit Sharma. It was great to see Ravindra Jadeja bounce back the way he did, making such a massive contribution with both bat and ball instantly.

Shreyas Iyer is fit again so he comes back in surely to the playing 11 and takes the Number 5 slot. I think he deserves coming into the side. His record is terrific and has impress ed in just the 7 matches he has played so far. His numbers are outstanding. The only concern with his selection in the XI could be the lack of cricket coming into the match. Someone like Jadeja played a few domestic games before this Test. You would want players to get some match practice before coming into the national side ideally. But this is a different scenario and India will look to get Iyer in straightaway, which means that Suryakumar Yadav misses out.

I also liked how brilliantly Rohit Sharma led the team. His was inspiring as a batter. I have always felt that there is nothing worse than a captain who is terribly out of form. A captain is someone the players look up to for inspiration. Rohit was excellent on that front in the first Test. A captain winning games for his side is excellent news for the team. Rohit is a top player across formats now and it showed in the way he batted in Nagpur.

As I wrote earlier, Australia may have lost the first Test in under 3 days but they are still a world class side. India will never make the mistake of underestimating them. Expect a hard-fought battle in Delhi.