This is it for Australia. They face top-ranked India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy without batting mainstays Steve Smith and David Warner, and with the spotlight firmly on their journey since the ball-tampering scandal earlier in the year.
Australia captain Tim Paine said he is getting sick and tired of talk about team culture and the scandalous South Africa tour at the beginning of the year. The Baggy Green now have an opportunity to let the bat and ball do the talking against a cagey Indian team that has lost six out of eight Tests in 2018.
The Australians will be relying on their pace attack of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood to contain Kohli and the rest of India’s batting, even if the line-up fails to elicit as much confidence.
Here we take a look at the key tactics for the hosts as they aim to get an edge in the opening clash.
PITCH IT UP TO KOHLI
According to data by CricViz, during the eight Tests in South Africa and England, India skipper Virat Kohli averaged 46.28 against full deliveries, 66.33 against good length balls and 69.33 against the short stuff.
Moreover, according to ESPNcricinfo, England seamer James Anderson produced 53 false shots from Kohli by the third Test without dismissing him. In 2014, Kohli had played a false shot 54 times and had been out 10 times for an average of less than 14.
So the simple strategy is to bowl full and swing the ball away or nip it back in. He might cover drive an entire session but as a luckless Anderson showed this year, Kohli will still edge the away moving ball. Or fall over and get hit on the pads. The Aussie bowlers and fielders just need to be switched on when that opportunity arrives. He might still score runs but there is a chance of him not having a bumper tour and given his current form, that would be seen as a huge victory.
IF PITCH IS FLAT, PACK THE ON-SIDE AND BOWL STRAIGHT
Australia’s tall quicks have a distinct advantage over their Indian counterparts – they can go to the default mode and plug the runs if the pitch is too flat. Josh Hazlewood in particular has the ability to run in hard even at the end of a hot day and bowl tight and into the batsmen’s body.
If by some twist of fate the wicket turns out to be particularly flat in any of the four Tests, the best way to unsettle India’s batting is to dry up the runs and wait. India’s batting, apart from Kohli, seems to have forgotten how to play the long innings. Also, since India’s batting line-up will most likely be light given the absence of batting all-rounder Hardik Pandya, they can feel cornered fairly early.
Since no batsman apart from Kohli has shown the ability this season to fight his way out of a hole, the Aussie quicks can look to first attack and if that doesn’t work, pack the on-side with fielders and bowl straight. It was a strategy employed by the Aussies to lethal effect when they won the 2004 series in India 2-1.
