Australia were also beaten 0-1 at home by South
Africa but have fared better than India during that period. However, the
recent retirements of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey have left their
middle order bereft of experience. The last time these two teams locked
horns, Australia pummeled India 4-0 at home riding on the superlative
performances of their skipper Michael Clarke and the fast bowlers. But
conditions in India are completely different and it will take a
gargantuan effort from the visitors to outclass the hosts.
England beat India 2-1 in 2012, despite losing the
first Test, and showed that the hosts are no longer unbeatable in their
own backyard with a host of slow bowlers. India have had a horrid last
two years in Test cricket, losing eight successive matches overseas and
beating only West Indies and New Zealand at home. A series win against
Australia will do a world of good to their confidence and will restore
some pride. On the other hand, another defeat at home threatens to
besmirch their legacy and will spell an impending doom for Indian
cricket.
Harbhajan Singh confirmed in the pre-match press
conference that he will play the first Test, indicating that India might
go with their all three frontline spinners along with Ravindra Jadeja's
left-arm spin. This isn't a rare instance as India played four spinners
- Pragyan Ojha, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla and Jadeja - in the Nagpur Test
against England in December.
Interestingly, the two sides are banking on
different strengths to try and outdo the other. India have a substandard
and largely inexperienced fast bowling attack which has been their
biggest failing over the years, and thus are counting on spin. India's
second-string spinners posed problems to the Australian batsmen in the
two tour matches and the inexperienced team has a task at hand to
exorcise the spin demons in the first Test. Barring Clarke and Shane
Watson, the other batsmen have no experience of playing Tests in India
and this a prominent factor which the hosts will look to capitalize on.
What remains to be seen, however, is how much
assistance Australia's battery of fast men gets from the Chepauk pitch
which is renowned to be a batting paradise and help spinners from day
four.
What India and Australia have in common is worries
at the top of the batting. India axed Gautam Gambhir from the 15-member
squad for the first two Tests and drafted in Murali Vijay and Shikhar
Dhawan while retaining an out-of-form Virender Sehwag. Vijay is most
likely to get the nod over Dhawan for the first Test; Sehwag will do
good to seek inspiration from his outstanding record at the venue.
David Warner is recovering from a fractured thumb
and Australia have taken a gamble by including him in the playing XI for
the first Test. Ed Cowan struck a fine century against South Africa
last year but struggled for runs since then. Phil Hughes - set to bat at
No. 3 - was ill at ease against spin in the last tour match, leaving
Australia with a brittle top order. These problems on both sides leave
both India and Australia reliant on their respective middle orders.
Harbhajan struggled against England last year, but
with a good record against Australia - 90 wickets in 16 Tests - the
latter could yet again prove a thorn in Australia's flesh. Additionally,
the presence of left-arm spinner Ojha gives India a clear advantage.
Unlike England with Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar,
Australia don't have a quality spinner in their ranks which might prove
a huge deterrent. Nathan Lyon has been preferred as the solitary
slow-bowling option for the Chennai Test and the offspinner will have a
big role to play if Australia want to stamp a significant impact on the
series. After Lyon, Australia do not have a genuine wicket-taking
spinner in their XI.
Where the tourists outrank India, however, is in
the fast-bowling stakes and they are going in with a clear plan.
Australia will play with four pace bowlers - Peter Siddle, Mitchell
Starc, James Pattinson and the debutant Moises Henriques - in Chennai
while India will have Ishant Sharma as their spearhead followed by one
of the uncapped Ashok Dinda and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Starc is in sparkling
form of late and Siddle has been consistent for the last year; if
Pattinson manages to get away without any injuries, Australia's fast
bowling stock is remarkable and they'll take heart from James Anderson's
superb showing in the Test series in India. Henriques was the best of
the Australian seamers in the warm-up match against India A and if he
gets reverse swing again he could prove a steady hand at one end with
his medium pace.
Teams
Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Ed
Cowan, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6
Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc,
10 James Pattinson, 11 Nathan Lyon.
India (probable): 1 Virender
Sehwag, 2 Murali Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Virat
Kohli, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh 9
Ashok Dinda/R Ashwin, 10 Ishant Sharma 11 Pragyan Ojha
