Second Test – India vs. Australia Tips and Previews, 17th February

It’s safe to say the first Test between the top two-ranked teams in the world didn’t live up to expectations last week as the Indians dismantled the Australians by an innings and 132 runs. In what was the Australians’ worst performance in recent memory, the 19-year winless series streak on Indian soil got off to the worst possible start with scores of 177 and 91 in each innings.

Indian’s frontline spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin toiled with the Aussie batsmen and finished the game with 15 wickets between them. Jadeja was named Man of the Match with a five-wicket haul in the first innings and 70 runs.

The problems started before the first ball was bowled for the Australians, with selectors opting to drop Travis Head for Peter Handscomb. While Handscomb was far from the worst-performing batsman with scores of 31 and six, the decision to play both him and Matthew Renshaw ahead of the fourth-ranked batsmen in the world was questionable at best. Head will almost certainly regain his spot for the second Test, but his inability to play spin reportedly has selectors considering whether he’ll return to the middle order or replace Warner at the top. Warner’s lean run of form continued with scores of one and 10, while Khawaja also failed in both innings.

The shining light for Australia was clearly the debut of young Victorian finger spinner Todd Murphy. Murphy joined Nathan Lyon as a two-pronged spinning attack and dominated with a seven-wicket haul, including the scalps of KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli. Depending on Green’s availability, the Australian selectors have flown uncapped spinner Matthew Kuhnemann to India as a left-handed option for the second Test.

As for India, things couldn’t have started any better as Rohit Sharma responded to suggestions of a poor pitch with a 212-ball 120 at the top of the order. Murphy controlled the middle overs for the Australians until Jadeja (70) and Axar Patel (84) provided valuable assistance for Sharma and ultimately solidified the game’s result.

The tourists expect another low, turning pitch in the Indian capital, so they can reasonably expect the three-headed spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja, and Patel to line up again for the home side.

Both Green and Mitchell Starc are facing the clock to prove their fitness and regain their spots in a must-win clash. Expect more than one change to the Australian line-up as Andrew McDonald, George Bailey, and co put more emphasis on recent performances rather than expectation on a turning Indian pitch.