AHMEDABAD: Stung by the reverse in Indore, a smarting India are expected to come back hard against Australia when the two sides square off for the fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium starting Thursday.
It will be a special occasion for both the teams as their prime ministers - Modi and his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese - will watch the first hour's play along with 1 lakh spectators. India are 2-1 up in the series and have already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But the bigger prize which the hosts have cast their eyes upon is a spot in the World Test Championship final which will be played The Oval in England in June.
A win at Indore would have assured them of that spot, but they now have their task cut out against a team that has found a new verve under stand-in skipper Steve Smith. Trailing 2-0 in the series, Smith & Co. turned the tables on the hosts on an undercooked surface at Indore with a massive nine-wicket win. To add insult to injury, the ICC match referee Chris Broad rated the pitch poor and handed three demerit points to the venue.
The rap on the knuckles seemed to have nudged India to rethink its strategy of producing rank turners as the pitch for the final Test wears a traditional look.
"This wicket may be a little bit different. I just had a look at it," Smith said on the eve of the Test.
"Perhaps it may not spin as much from the first ball or the first day, but I do think it will spin as the game goes on. So, there might be opportunities for bigger totals on this wicket. It looks like, of the four wickets we've seen so far, this is potentially the flattest on Day One."
Incidentally, the last two Test matches played here against England in 2021, ended inside two and three days - with the former being a pink-ball affair.
Misfiring top order
The nature of the pitch on offer would have brought the misfiring Indian batters a sense of relief. Apart from Rohit Sharma, who scored a hundred in the first Test at Nagpur, the others have struggled on the challenging surfaces. India have relied heavily on their lower order to rescue them in this series, with Axar Patel (185) being the second highest scorer after Rohit (207).
Team combo
Captain Sharma gave no indication of what the playing XI will look like, but Smith dropped hints he would still go in with three spinners in Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy. "(We have) had faith in what we're trying to do and it's good that we are able to show that we can play with three spinners and win," Smith said.
"They are all different and all have good knowledge of the game (and a) good understanding of what they are trying to do. It's been great to be able to play spinners and show that we can do it effectively."
There were some talks that wicketkeeper KS Bharat could make way for Ishan Kishan, but Rohit said that the newcomers needed to be backed in these tough conditions.
"He (Bharat) has spent a lot of time in domestic cricket and he has scored a lot of runs. So, it will be slightly unfair to judge him on these kinds of wickets. Especially if someone is making their debut, you have got to give him enough room or innings for him to set himself up for a big score," Rohit said.
"It's something I spoke to him before the start of the series as well. 'Do not worry about pitches; you will get enough time to prove yourself because these pitches are not easy'. If you want to play on pitches like that, you have to be ready for guys failing in some innings. Then, you have got to back those guys, that's what we are doing with KS," Rohit added.
