Australia vs India: 2nd Test- India Predicted XI

India are currently brimming with confidence following their thumping victory against Australia by 31 runs at Adelaide Oval. The visiting team wasn’t thoroughly convincing and stuttered at stages. Fortunately, Virat Kohli and Co kept drilling the nails in the rivals’ coffin and eventually had the last laugh. Their bowlers also showed why they are regarded as one of the best going around in world cricket.

The pitch was slower in nature that was evident from the way the spinners extracted turn out of it. Nonetheless, the nature of the strip in Perth, the venue for the second Test, starting December 14, isn’t known yet. Bearing in mind the same, it would be interesting to see the changes India make. In our lineup, we take you through the probable eleven India are likely to field at the new Perth Stadium.

Openers (Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay)

The visitors are most likely to persist with their opening combination of KL Rahul and Murali Vijay. The former was going through a rough patch and could only manage a couple of runs in the first innings of the previous Test, fishing outside the off-stump to a delivery from Josh Hazlewood. To his relief, he made a comeback in the second innings, scoring 44 runs from 67 deliveries.

Vijay, on his Test comeback, looked rusty, to say the least. Mitchell Starc accounted for his wicket as he flirted with an away-going ball. In the second innings, the right-hander tried to put his head down, but Starc nipped him out yet another time. On a track, which is speculated to provide prodigious pace and bounce to the pacers, Vijay and Rahul would be in for another tough challenge.

Middle-order (Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari)

The middle-order has the stalwart in Cheteshwar Pujara, the only batsman who looked at sheer ease in both the innings of the Adelaide Test. The Saurashtra batsman didn’t play a shot out of anger and showed tremendous patience to stave the vicious Aussie bowling attack. Virat Kohli fared decently as the skipper, however, would like to put forward a better show with the bat.

Ajinkya Rahane was under the scanner for quite some time now and he didn’t help himself in the first innings after being dismissed by Hazlewood. Nevertheless, the seasoned campaigner displayed nerves of steel and notched 70 in the second instance. India may include Hanuma Vihari in place of Rohit Sharma, who looked excellent in patches but couldn’t make the opportunity count.

Wicketkeeper (Rishabh Pant)

As a batsman, youngster Rishabh Pant was criticised for the brash approach he showed at Adelaide Oval, though he didn’t succumb to outright failures. Howbeit he did an incredible job as the keeper. The 21-year-old became the first Indian to take 11 catches in a Test match. He would’ve had the world record had he pouched Nathan Lyon. He would now want to do well in Perth as well.

Bowlers (Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah)

The bowling lineup did a stupendous task in the first contest, albeit they strained a wee bit during the run-chase when the Australian lower order got them by the scruff of their necks. Off-spinner Ravi Ashwin has been ruled out of the match and hence, Ravindra Jadeja will fill in his slot. Ishant Sharma spewed venom and rattled Aaron Finch’s stumps in his very first over of the encounter.

Thereafter, he didn’t give much to the batsmen to work with. Mohammed Shami also bowled with all his might and became this year’s leading wicket-taker in overseas Tests. Last, but not the least, Jasprit Bumrah was one of those, who didn’t allow the batsmen to settle. He not only picked up wickets but also cranked up the pace significantly. The onus would be on the four to deliver in Perth.

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