Match Preview | India vs Australia, 2nd Test at Bengaluru
Kathmandu : india take on aussies today in second test at Bengaluru. after having surrendered to a heavy 333-run defeat in the first match in Pune. India were bundled out for 105 and 107 in their two innings with Australia left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe picking up 12 wickets in the test match.
Australia will be high on confidence since they have a 1-0 lead in the four-match series going into the second match. After being flummoxed on a rank-turner in Pune, it remains to be seen whether the wicket at Bengaluru will assist spinners or not.
The rivalry between India and Australia is now back to where it belongs. Australia have started to try and assert their dominance off the field too, while India are now trying to show they are not that easily intimidated. The pitch here is generally known to be batting friendly but spin will come into play expectedly from the third day. The spin-assisted Pune played into Australia`s hands as they grabbed their first win since 2004 and it will be interesting to see how the visitors fare against the hurt and smarting Indians, who will come hard at them.
Australia will find themselves in a happy place, but come Saturday and it will be a new Test match. They will have to be at their very best to continue their winning momentum. With everything falling into place for the visitors, Aussies have announced the same team in Bengaluru as well. Similarly, the Indians have not yet found a way to get Steve Smith out cheaply and the rival skipper, after his stupendous knock on a devilish pitch, will be itching to get one more. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would certainly like to forget Pune as it was one match where they hardly got anything right with fielding bloopers adding insult to injuries.
Squads:
India : KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav , avichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Abhinav Mukund, Karun Nair,
Australia: Matt Renshaw, David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith (captain), Peter Handscomb Steve O'Keefe, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Swepson, Usman Khawaja, Jackson Bird, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
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