Kohli to lead India for the first time in a Test as Dhoni sits out due to thumb injury; Hughes to be honoured at Adelaide Oval
The usually aggressive build-up has turned poignant owing to Phillip Hughes’ tragic death but the on-field face-off is unlikely to be anything less than high-voltage when India and Australia compete in the opening cricket Test of a four-match series, starting tuesday.
More than two weeks after landing here, India will finally get down to serious competition with Virat Kohli leading the side in place of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is still recovering from a hairline fracture in his right thumb. Indians are also dealing with uncertainty surrounding medium-pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar even as Australian skipper Michael Clarke was declared fit for the game.
The visitors will be hoping to reverse their last Test series result in this country, when under Dhoni they had lost 4-0 in 2011-12 year.
However, that thought will not be at the forefront when the match begins on Tuesday. Instead, it will be a emotion-laden atmosphere that will welcome both teams, and for good reason. Adelaide is the adopted home of Hughes and there will be an intense outpouring of emotion before play gets underway.
Cricket Australia and South Australia Cricket Association have quite a few plans about honouring the cricketer, who was hit by a bouncer on November 24 in a Sheffield Shield game in Sydney and died two days later on 27th November.
For Australian cricket, and their whole community sporting or otherwise, it has been a very tough two weeks. It is remarkable how they have mourned Hughes and celebrated every aspect of his short life, during which he played 26 Tests.
They have put cricket on the back-foot and cared for their grieving cricketers in this tragic circumstance. They were appreciative of the support they received from the BCCI and somehow managed to save the series and it remains a four-Test affair after the Brisbane Test was postponed from December 4 to December 17.
The way he marshalled the Australian cricketing fraternity ever since Hughes was injured, there was little doubt that he would be playing in Adelaide. And indeed, he has fought through to be ready ahead of this first encounter between the two sides.
At different times, Australian cricketers have come forth and expressed how tough it has been for them to prepare for this match and the series. It has been an arduous process for them, getting into bat for the first time after Hughes fell, and bowl bouncers even.
For the visitors, this has been a long tour already, waiting two weeks for some high-voltage cricket to get underway. While their colleagues demise ought to have affected them, the Indian team hasn’t made their emotions too visible, keeping a game-face at all times.
And for good reason, because India’s Test fortunes have been worrisome off late. The team is currently languishing at sixth in the ICC Test rankings and this is a proper reflection of their results in the last 12 months in this longest format.
On each of the last three tours, the touring side was mostly unfamiliar with playing conditions in Africa, New Zealand and England, as only a handful squad members had played Test cricket in these countries previously
This Australian tour is quite different in that respect. In 2011, apart from Dhoni, Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin and Umesh Yadav were part of the Test squad.
While Rahane and Rohit didn’t get a chance to play three years ago, they have played a lot of cricket overseas in the last one year. The bowlers already have experience of these Australian conditions. As such the team isn’t really as under-cooked as it was on the previous three overseas tours.
For starters, the playing eleven might change from the last time India played Test cricket. In England, the team management believed that a five-bowler-attack was their best chance to win.
With Kumar a doubt, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron and Mohammad Shami will be the first-choice combination. Among the spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin will be prime contenders, and it is highly unlikely that leg-spinner Karn Sharma will be handed a Test debut in the lone spinner role.
The Adelaide Oval wicket is a drop-in pitch and while it is expected to have nice bounce and carry throughout, it is not expected to deteriorate too much as the Test goes on.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadea, R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kl Rahul, Naman Ojha, MS Dhoni.
Australia: Michael Clarke (captain), David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin (wicket-keeper), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Nathan lyon. 12th man: Josh Hazlewood.
Kohli to lead India, Clarke fit
Virat Kohli will lead India for the first time in Tests after regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ruled out due to injury even as a fit-again Michael Clarke was confirmed Australia’s captain for what promises to be an emotional opening Test starting here on Tuesday.“Yes, I will be leading tomorrow,” Kohli said in the pre-match press conference.
Dhoni, who joined the squad on Saturday, has failed to recover from a thumb injury. The 33-year-old was originally ruled out of the opening Test but came back in contention after the schedule of the series was rejigged following Phillip Hughes’ tragic death.Kohli, who recently led India to an ODI whitewash over Sri lanka at home, will be in-charge of the team for the first time in the five-day format.
“It’s a huge boost to have him back in and playing for us and with his captaincy,” pacer Mitchell Johnson said. “He is a strong leader and has always been an aggressive leader ... He just has something about him when he’s out there as captain.”
No DRS for Ind-Aus Test series
With India continuing its criticism of the Decision Review System in its current form, the technology will not be used in the four-Test series against Australia, starting in Adelaide.India remain DRS’ most strident critic and stand-in-skipper Virat Kohli confirmed it will be the case for the foreseeable future.
“Unless it’s 100 per cent accurate I don’t think ... (India) will change take on it. It just doesn’t make sense to us sometimes," Kohli said ahead of the first Test.The DRS will not be used this summer in Australia for the first time since India toured the country in 2011-12, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
It will be a game-changer for Michael Clarke and his teammates, who had been afforded the chance to review decisions in their past four Test series.
being aggressive is key: Kohli
Excited to lead India for the first time in a Test, stand-in skipper Virat Kohli today described it as a “big moment” of his career and said his team is determined to play aggressive cricket against Australia when the opening match gets underway.
Kohli was handed the captaincy after regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to regain complete fitness from a thumb injury.
“It is a big moment for me personally. I had always dreamt of playing Test cricket and now I am getting to lead India in a Test match. It wasn’t expected but a series of events led to it,” Kohli told the reporters on Monday.
Match starts at 5.30 AM on Star Sports