Opening Act: Under pressure India meet edgy Australia

PTI Perth: The nostalgia of Brisbane 2021 refuses to fade but India, still reeling from a bitter home debacle, will be under tremendous pressure when they face an equally circumspect Australia in a battle of two out-of-form batting units in the opening Test of the marquee Border- Gavaskar Trophy, starting here on Friday. In 2018-19 and 2020-21, India proved that lightning can strike twice with back to back series wins but the manner in which New Zealand came, saw and decimated them on home turf recently has certainly hit the psyche of an otherwise world-class unit. The undeniable truth is that some of the stars driving this unit are in the twilight of their hallowed careers. How the five-match rubber against Pat Cummins and his men unfolds could well decide their future.

A record third World Test Championship final entry that looked imminent before the start of the New Zealand series, now seems like a distant dream. A 4-0 score-line has become an absolute necessity for India to avoid relying on other teams. And a 4-0 scoreline on Australian soil is as improbable a proposition as an Indian football team beating Brazil or Argentina in a FIFA friendly. But anyone who has seen this current bunch from close quarters will vouch that this team can bounce back from the brink. It also tends to play its best cricket when Doubting Thomases enjoy a condescending chuckle at their expense. In this backdrop, Australia, ready to avenge the humiliation suffered in last five years, face a team that enters the cage without its regular skipper (Rohit Sharma on paternity break), its best exponent of reverse swing (Mohammed Shami, still not 100 per cent fit) and a future skipper (Shubman Gill, thumb fracture).

An Australia series is known to make or break careers. Sachin Tendulkar scored a hundred on a WACA track with 'snake cracks' and the world took notice while Dilip Vengsarkar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth were forced to walk into the sunset back in 1991-92. Virat Kohli, Rohit, who will arrive before the second Test in Adelaide, and senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin are facing that moment of reckoning yet again and an indifferent result could have repercussions. Kohli's coronation as 'King Kohli' happened in 2014 in this very country with those four hundreds while Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant still make appearances in the nightmares of the Aussie bowling quartet, which will certainly be playing its last Border-Gavaskar series together. This will perhaps be the series which will be decided by bowlers more than ever with Jasprit Bumrah, leading in the opening game, entrusted with the duty of setting the tone against a line-up which has been far from its best even at home in recent times. Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep are likely to be Bumrah's partners but the lanky Prasidh Krishna and the burly Harshit Rana are also staking a claim with impressive skill sets. Whatever be the composition, the home batters cannot afford to take it lightly.

Steve Smith's average in the current WTC cycle (2023-25) is just around 36 while his career average is an impressive 56 plus in over 100 Tests. Marnus Labuschagne's career average is nearly 50 but in the last two years, it has nose-dived to less than 30. Travis Head has been India's nemesis in back to back ICC finals within months of each other but even his average is a lowly 28 plus in this cycle. Save for Usman Khawaja, who even at the business end of his career epitomises consistency, keeper Alex Carey and skipper Cummins, who is now a proper all-rounder, the batting hasn't exactly inspired confidence. Australia's tail has a better chance of wagging given that India are mulling on playing the better spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin instead of a far better batter in Ravindra Jadeja. It could be a tactical call looking at the moisture and bounce available on a first track and the world knows that Ashwin is a shade better compared to Jadeja when it comes to bowling on opening day tracks if need be.

To ensure that India's tail isn't as big as that of Kangaroos found in Australian Outbacks, rookie all-rounder Nitish Reddy is expected to be thrown at the deep end of the pool with hope and a prayer that he can be a steady fourth pacer giving 12 to 15 overs per day. In batting, three of India's top six batters have never played in Australia and two of them have a cumulative Test experience of four games.

Teams India: Jasprit Bumrah (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Washington Sundar.

Australia: Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.

Don't look at captaincy as a post but responsibility: Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah has always loved responsibility and taking on tough jobs which is why he is relishing the prospect of leading India against fierce rivals Australia in a muchanticipated Test series opener in their backyard.

This is the second time that Bumrah will captain the team in the absence of Rohit Sharma after the Edgbaston Test against England in 2022, and the 30-year-old would like to skin the cat in his own way. "I don't look at captaincy as a post but I have always loved responsibility," Bumrah said at a press conference ahead of the first Test. "I wanted to do the tough job since I was a child. You want to do things and get thrown in tough scenarios, this adds a new challenge for me," India's pace spearhead said, summing up his feelings about leadership.

IT'S GOING TO GET MORE ATTRITIONAL, SAYS CUMMINS

Australian captain Pat Cummins expects the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against arch-foes India to be more "attritional" as the two heavyweights of world cricket spar over five Test matches instead of the traditional four games. And given the enormity of the series, Cummins believes players would not have the time to be distracted by the IPL auction that would take place in Jeddah on Sunday, the third day of the match. The blockbuster series will be a survival of the fittest as Australia look to avenge successive losses on home soil when they go head-to-head from Friday.

"The Border- Gavaskar Trophy has always been very tight every series, five Test-match series gets really attritional, it's a big one really," Cummins said at the pre-match press conference here on Thursday. Australia will be without their assistant coach Daniel Vettori, who was granted permission to leave the Perth Test and be at the two-day auction with his IPL franchise SunRisers Hyderabad.

Rohit to join India squad on Sunday

Skipper Rohit Sharma will join the Indian team here on Sunday, the third day of the first Test against Australia at the Optus Stadium. Rohit was unavailable for the opening Test as he stayed back in India with his family for the birth of his second child. Rohit and his wife Ritika were blessed with a baby boy on November 15. Premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is leading India in the Perth Test as the visitors start the defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. “Rohit will be arriving in Perth on the third day of the Test match,” a BCCI source confirmed to PTI. Hence, the 37-year-old will be available for the second Test against the Australia at Adelaide from December 6.