AUS vs IND Day 2 Preview
AUS vs IND Day 2 Preview, AUS vs IND What to expect from Day 2?, AUS vs IND WTC 2023 Final Day 2, AUS vs IND Day 2, Australia vs India Day 2, WTC 2023 Finals, World Test Championship.
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Australia certainly started favourites for this contest. They had a settled all-round team with players having absolute role clarity. Australia had a terrific backup for Josh Hazlewood in Scott Boland who many believe makes them even more stronger. They have 4 batsmen among the top 7 batters in the ICC rankings. Add to this, the conditions at the Oval are more Australian than Indian. India had to play out of its skin to make a match out of it.
The old folly comes back to haunt India:
India unlike Australia had to make certain difficult decisions. The absence of a quality seam bowling allrounder has often upset the team’s balance. Ravichandran Ashwin who is the world’s number one ranked bowler often has to make way for a lesser bowler. The story was no different for this final too.
India goes searching for seam:
Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid decided to go in with a four-member seam attack along with the spin of Ravindra Jadeja. They seemed to have picked the side for the opening hour as opposed to five days of the Test. There has been early evidence that leaving out Ashwin wasn’t a good move. It will be interesting to see how this move pans out in the remainder of this Test.
The lack of variety in the bowling attack:
Ashwin’s absence notwithstanding, India it appears has erred on another straightforward selection. They have gone in with a 4-pronged right-arm seam attack offering little variety. India had the option of playing left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat who also offers a handy batting option lower down the order. But they trusted the erratic experience of Umesh Yadav. It was the introduction of Yadav that opened up the floodgates for Australia. India has already started ruing this decision.
What’s in store on day 2?
Australia is wonderfully placed at the end of day 1. They could sense the victory mace as well within their reach after a top opening day. Aussie batters will look to pile up on the misery. They will want to ideally bat India out of the competition. Australian bowlers will then use the scoreboard pressure to dictate terms to the Indian batsmen.
What can India do?
From an Indian perspective, it is imperative that they still believe. Two decades ago, they found themselves in a similar situation against the same team. In the deciding Chennai Test in 2001, Australia had raced away to 329-3 on the opening day. But India staged a marvellous comeback back then to pull off a stunning heist.
India needs to draw inspiration from that effort. They will need to restrict Australia from taking the game away. If they manage to bowl Australia under 450-475, it will be a small moral win for an already deflated Indian bowling lineup. The second day of the Test might well tell us if the game will proceed in one direction or if there are any twists and turns!
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