Australia vow to maintain pressure on ‘Adelaide 36ers’
Australian captain Tim Paine has urged his team to heed the lessons of last year’s Ashes series and immediately put India ‘‘under the pump’’ in the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.
The home team is set to field an unchanged side in the second test at the MCG from today, having beaten the tourists in an ‘‘Adelaide 36ers’’ horror show inside three days in Adelaide where India were bowled out for 36 in their second innings, their lowest test score.
The Australians can take a firm grip on regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy should they prevail in Melbourne, as the tourists would need to win the final two tests to retain one of the sport’s most cherished prizes.
While Paine and his team ensured there was no let-up against Pakistan and New Zealand last summer when they won all five tests on offer, the skipper is still mindful of what happened at the Oval last year when Australia, having rebounded to win the previous test in Manchester, squandered a 2-1 series lead, although they still retained the urn 2-2.
There has been much talk, including from Australian opener Joe Burns, about the ‘‘mental scars’’ India may carry into the marquee test of the summer but Paine said his team could not think that way.
‘‘We can’t pay any attention to mental scars, whatever that people are talking about. We know India is a proud cricket country. They are an extremely talented test match side with lots of dangerous players,’’ he said yesterday.
‘‘The moment we take our foot off the pedal and think we are going all right, we saw in England in that fifth test, that we can come unstuck pretty quickly. So, a huge focus of ours since that fifth test in the Ashes has been winning after winning.’’
The Australians had been in a major battle in Adelaide until Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood destroyed India’s second innings with a superb spell of pitched-up bowling, while also leaving tailender Mohammed Shami with a broken arm care of a nasty short ball.
Life in a biosecure bubble, where players cannot enjoy their usual freedoms, can become suffocating when teams repeatedly lose. Paine is aware of that and knows there is a chance the Indians – who may make up to five changes to their XI – could implode if they were crunched in Melbourne.
‘‘Living in a hub or a bubble, it is certainly easier when you are playing well,’’ Paine said.
‘‘But, the flip side to that is, you are really close, you are really tight-knit and you are always around each other.
‘‘It can go both ways. We have been on overseas tours before to India or South Africa and we were bowled out for 50. It can be really difficult, so, again ... that’s why it is so important for us to turn up with the attitude that we turned up with in the first test,’’ Paine said.
The Australians held a light training session at the MCG yesterday. Makeshift openers Burns and Matthew Wade will be retained because David Warner (groin) has yet not fully recovered, Will Pucovski (concussion) was ruled out and Marcus Harris was overlooked.
India could make four changes. As well as Shami, captain Virat Kohli has returned to India to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Opener KL Rahul and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant could be in line for recalls, with Prithvi Shaw and Wriddhiman Saha in danger of being dropped.
Earlier this week, Cricket Australia officials met to determine whether the MCG might hold two tests in a row if a new Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney prevents the SCG match from beginning played beginning January 7. The CA board decided to wait further to give the SCG its ‘‘best chance’’ to host the third test.
The board also wants to stick with Brisbane hosting the fourth test beginning on January 15.