India, Australia set for pitched battle

There has been a lot of talk about the pitch but the Border-Gavaskar Trophy promises plenty more twists and turns

With the pre-match media conference out of the way, one could see Pat Cummins getting somewhat anxious, holding his dark green Australian blazer while waiting for the home skipper to arrive and pose for the customary pre-series photo shoot with the trophy. Was another Australian skipper being made to wait? It didn’t take long for Rohit Sharma to arrive and as the two got talking with David Warner, who walked up to give the Indian skipper a tickle, you realised the IPL generation is different -- the hangovers of the past don't exist for them.

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul during a practice session ahead of the first Test against Australia. (PTI)

That’s not to say the Indians were going to take Australia’s challenge lightly at Nagpur, a match for which the tickets have been almost sold out. A green carpet was laid out for Adam Gilchrist-led Australia in 2004 at Nagpur, thanks to BCCI's internal wrangling. It saw captain Sourav Ganguly dropping out from the game on the morning of the match citing injury and Rahul Dravid-led India folding up inside four days.

Nagpur now has a new Test venue on the outskirts at Jamtha but the pitch, somehow, stays in the news; this time for its lack of grass. Sharma and the Dravid-led support staff arrived in full force and went straight to check the playing surface on Wednesday morning. A lot of the work, in terms of selective watering and rolling, had been done on the pitch the day before, and one saw little action on the 22 yards afterward.

The visiting Australian media has given the track a name – 'bone-dry doctored pitch'. Sharma was asked. Unruffled, he gave out a long-winded reply. “I just feel that we have got to focus on the cricket that is going to be played over the next five days. Not worry too much about the pitch. All 22 cricketers who are going to play, are quality cricketers. So not to worry about what the pitch is going to be like, how much it is turning, seaming or things like that. You are gonna just come out and play good cricket,” he said.

The Indians didn’t train. Teams sometimes have low-key training sessions a day before the match. Surprisingly, except Jaydev Unadkat, no Indian player came to the ground. Unadkat didn’t bowl but batted for an hour. To see batting coach Vikram Rathour work on Unadkat’s forward push, polishing his defensive skills with the rest of support staff looking on, had many sporting a whimsical smile.

Superfan Sudhir Gautam made an entry blowing his conch to add some atmosphere but he only had the reserve bowlers – Sai Kishore, Saurabh Kumar and Jayant Yadav in attendance. Realising no batter was turning up, they too made a quick retreat to the hotel.

“Before the game, we always give the option to players to come and train. We started a mini-camp 3rd onwards. We have had four or five training sessions before today. So, today was optional for us. We have to make sure the guys stay fresh for the next five days,” Sharma said.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who loves the feel of a long net session, had already had a marathon two-hour batting session on Tuesday. Mohammed Shami didn’t turn up on both the pre-match training sessions but is reportedly fine. India’s spin trio – R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel -- should fancy bowling on the pitch, particularly the left-arm spinners for the barren dry patch outside the left-hander's off-stump.

Suryakumar Yadav likely to debut

The big middle-order batting hole India needs to fill is the one left behind by the unavailability of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. The Indian captain explained the positives of both options he has, Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav. But one understands the Mumbai batter, having reached dizzying heights in T20Is, appears set to step on the Test arena.

He is likely to be summoned for his decade-long domestic cricket experience and for all the attributes he possesses to deliver an innings that could turn the match. Australia favour their own left-arm spin option, Ashton Agar.

With the surrounding drama around the wicket and how India are preparing to corner their left-handers, it would be no surprise if they play right-handed bat Peter Handscomb at No 6 over Matt Renshaw, just to break the monotony of the middle-order.

“The pitch looks a little bit dry for the left-handers and knowing how much traffic will probably go through there from the right-arm bowlers, potentially might be a fair bit of rough out there. That’s something we just got to embrace,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said, wearing a smile. “It’s going to be fun; it’s going to be challenging at times. But our batters will relish the chance to problem-solve on their feet and quite a few of them will get their chance to do that.”