Australia surprised themselves and the whole of the cricketing fraternity to churn out a rare win in India in the inaugural Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2017. Buoyed by a magnificent hundred from Steven Smith and a twelve-wicket haul by Steven O'Keefe, Australia humbled India within three days to end their 19-match unbeaten streak.
The keys to Australia's success were the preparation they had in Dubai prior to the series and their series loss in Sri Lanka. While they were whitewashed in Lanka, Australia learnt some valuable lessons about playing in the sub-continent.
Some hard yards in the Dubai nets prepped them up for a sterner challenge in India and they were greeted with the driest of dry wickets in Pune. Surprisingly, these kinds of wickets often tend to work in favour of the underdogs and so it did.
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However, Smith and co. will be aware that India are going to come back harder and stronger. While complacency could have played a role in India's loss in the first game, it was their inability to bat against the Aussie spinners that will delight Australian coach, Darren Lehmann.
When the second Test at Bengaluru starts, Australia will have to get themselves prepared to face a rejuvenated Indian side. For a home team to lose the way they did at Pune is embarrassing, to say the least, and Kohli and Kumble will have to ensure that no stone is left unturned when the battle ensues at Chinnaswamy.
Here we take a glance at how Australia can keep themselves motivated and negate the Indian threat at Bangalore.
#5 Keeping Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara silent
The Pujara-Kohli duo has been the lynchpin of India's batting line-up in Tests of late. Much of India's unbeaten streak was achieved as a result of the brilliance of this pair. They have drilled opposition to the ground by batting patiently.
Kohli has been in such a phenomenal run of form that anything below 50 from his bat is considered a failure. Pujara, on the other hand, has been a rock at No. 3 for India, piling on truckloads of runs since his comeback. In Pune, Australia dismissed both of them quickly in both innings and it resulted in India being bowled out for 105 and 107.
If they need to put India on the back foot they have to get rid of the duo early. Without a fulcrum to bat around, India will struggle to put up runs on the board. While this isn't an easy task, Australia have done it already and they just need to stick to their plans.
#4 Negating the Jadeja threat
Ravindra Jadeja has been quietly chipping away with wickets from one end even as Ashwin has been stealing all the limelight. The left-hand spinner has been right on the money in India's home season, barely giving away anything.
He has the knack of breaking partnerships with his tidy bowling and Australia need to be even more wary of him than Ashwin. The quicker slider from Jadeja will be something to watch out for in Bangalore.
On a good batting wicket, the straighter ball will be a major threat for batsmen and the Saurashtra all-rounder is capable of delivering it with pinpoint accuracy. If the Aussie batsmen can negate Jadeja and milk some runs off him, the effectiveness of Ashwin also gets reduced.
#3 Team composition
Deciding the team composition after a victory should usually be an easy task. But Australia do have something to ponder about. While Mitchell Marsh was used in Pune, he had very little bowling to do and his batting does not inspire much confidence.
Although the chances of such a turning pitch being laid out at Chinnaswamy are slim, Australia might wonder if Marsh's batting can withstand the test. Starc had ample success with the bat by going after the Indian spinners and pace bowlers. Going by that, Maxwell at six may not be a bad idea.
If he can score a quick-fire half-century, it will help Australia frustrate the Indian bowlers while adding some valuable runs on the board. Marsh is, of course, in the team for his seam bowling too, but if they feel they do not need that, there is no point in playing him ahead of Maxwell or even Khawaja.
#2 Steven O'Keefe and curbing the excitement of Pune
O'Keefe will undoubtedly be on cloud nine after his sensational outing in Pune. He put doubts in the minds of the Indian batsman by pushing in the arm ball mixed with some sharp turning deliveries.
However, he should be wary of complacency going into the Bangalore Test. Things can turn around quickly in India and they have batsmen who have played much better spinners with ease. O'Keefe's biggest challenge after the 12-wicket haul would be to remain patient.
It is natural to get frustrated if wickets don't come easily, but he will have to remain patient and forget about his match haul in Pune if he is to replicate that kind of success right through the series.
#1 Working over India's lower order
While the likes of Kohli, Vijay, Rahane and Pujara are difficult to contain for a whole series, Australia do have the right weapons in their armoury to wreck India's lower middle order and tail-enders.
A big issue England and New Zealand had was containing India’s long batting lineup. The likes of Ashwin, Jayant Yadav and Jadeja contributed vital runs in the previous series that helped India take important leads in each Test match.
Australia may not be able to contain Kohli or Pujara for long, however, once they get past the top order, it is imperative that they do not let the tail wag. If they can get rid of the lower order in quick time, Australia would have doubled their chances of winning.
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