Having achieved the unthinkable by winning the first match of a Test series Down Under, India will hope to carry their winning form as 'pitch talks' dominate the run-up to the second Test in Perth.
India won the Adelaide Test by 31 runs to lead the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series. A win will ensure that India will not lose the series, thus allowing the visitors to go for the jugular and hope to win their first ever Test series in Australia.
And the mood in the Indian camp was summed up best by Virat Kohli after a green pitch was unveiled on eve of the maiden Test at the new facility.
Advertisement
"We get more excited than nervous looking at lively pitches now," said Kohli, who has a potent pace attack at his disposal.
Curator Brett Sipthorpe is trying to produce the 'bounciest' pitch he can and that could very well work in India's favour as the visitors aim to take a 2-0 lead.
The visitors will name a changed eleven as they have been hit by a couple more injuries. India drafted Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 13-man squad, with R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma the two notable absentees.
Prodigious opener Prithvi Shaw is already out after injuring himself while attempting a catch during the warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI.
Advertisement
Ashwin is out owing to a left-abdominal strain while Rohit is laid low due to a back issue that he sustained whilst fielding in the first Test at Adelaide.
India will retain their opening combination of Rahul and Vijay. Then comes Pujara, ahead of Kohli and Rahane.
Vihari is an ideal replacement for Rohit. But considering the nature of Perth pace, India may well field a four-prong pace attack, plus a spinner.
Jadeja is likely to get the game, and he has always been an entertaining lower-order batsman too. And along with wicketkeeper Pant, he presents India's attacking mindset.
Ishant, Shami and Bumrah were brilliant in Adelaide, and addition of another pacer, most likely Bhuvi, will only boost India's prospects.
It will mean that Vihari sits out once again.
India's likely XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Another scenario would be to field an all-pace attack, with Vihari coming in for Rohit: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
India fielding an all-pace attack is not unheard of though. At Johannesburg, earlier this year, Kohli picked a four-pacer attack with Hardik Pandya as the all-rounder.
Advertisement
In Perth, eight years ago, Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted for Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and R Vinay Kumar with Virender Sehwag filling in as a part-time spinner at the WACA Ground.
In such a scenario, Vihari can double up as a spinner, more in the line of a batting all-rounder.
The Indian batting line-up should otherwise be unchanged. On Thursday, the three Indian pacers, who played in Adelaide, didn’t bowl at all. They did pad up and have a hit in the nets.
Meanwhile, Australia have named an unchanged XI, which fought well in Adelaide.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Parthiv Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma.
Advertisement
Australia: Tim Paine (c & wk), Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Siddle.
(With PTI inputs)
