Thaindian News

Adelaide, Jan 23 (IANS) India are left playing the fourth cricket Test against Australia, beginning here Tuesday, for pride after being beaten in the earlier three Tests by big margins. The visitors can take heart from their unbeaten record at the Adelaide Oval in the last 12 years.

India, on a seven-Test losing streak overseas, have been found wanting against a potent bowling line-up which has used the pace and bounce on the Australian pitches to perfection. There could be some respite for the struggling Indian batsmen here as the surface is conducive to stroke making and has traditionally provided big scores in the first innings.

Besides the wicket being good for batting, curator Damien Hough said it will assist spinners for most part of the game, making it another welcome news for the Indians, who have only looked at ease against the spin of Nathan Lyon and part-time bowler in Australia captain Michael Clarke.

India, who have crossed the 300-run mark only once in their six innings, can draw positives from their batting efforts here in their last two Tests when they posted 500-plus scores in the first innings. They won the 2004 match for their first win in Australia in 22 years and drew the next one four years later.

Virender Sehwag takes over the captaincy from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been banned for a match for going slow on the over rate at Perth — a second time in 12 months. The explosive opener, who has made 118 runs at 19.66, will go into the game high on confidence with scores of 47, 47, 63 and 151 in his last four innings here.

Sachin Tendulkar made his last Test hundred in Australia on this ground and will certainly heave a sigh of relief if he gets the elusive 100th hundred in probably his last Test Down Under.

V.V.S. Laxman, who was seen undergoing extensive net sessions, is likely to retain his place despite reports of his place being taken by uncapped Rohit Sharma.

Seeing the nature of the wicket, the team management might go with two spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, who is yet to play in the series. If that happens, Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav will share the burden in the pace department, leaving Ishant Sharma out of the picture.

Australia, on the other hand, are in no mood to relax after securing the Border-Gavaskar trophy at Perth. Skipper Clarke has already said that he will be sad if his team doesn’t complete the 4-0 whitewash of India.

Nathan Lyon is back in the side replacing Mitchell Starc and will be eager to perform at his home ground, besides improving upon his two wickets from the first two Tests.

The pressure of retaining their place in the side will be on Shaun Marsh and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin. Both have failed miserably with the bat, scoring an aggregate of 11 and 27 in their last six innings.

Ed Cowan has showed promise in his debut series and would like to cement his place in the team by making a big score.

Teams:
Australia: Michael Clarke (captain), David Warner, Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Lyon.

India (from): Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, R. Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Abhimanyu Mithun.

On-field umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Kumara Dharamsena (Sri Lanka)

Hours of play (IST): 05.30 a.m.-07.30 a.m.; 08.10 a.m.-10.10 a.m.; 10.30 a.m.-12.30 p.m.