Australia eye redemption as India look to put the ghosts of the pink-ball Test behind

It was a dream start for Team India in Perth as they vanquished Australia in the grandest of fashion. An extraordinary enterprise from captain Jasprit Bumrah set the tone in the first innings while the Indian batters came out all guns blazing in the second innings to leave Australia spiralling in chaos.

Australia, on the contrary, will be desperate to return to their elements as they will try and make the most out of the pink ball. The last time these two teams met in a pink-ball contest didn’t really leave India flying. However, from thereon it was a swashbuckling turnaround for the visitors as they not only equalized in the second Test, hung to a cliff-hanger in the third while securing the prize-winning fourth contest in Gabba.

This is not going to be an easy battle for both sides. Team India will be desperate to post another rippling show with the bat, especially with the ghosts of Adelaide still haunting them. If there is one thing that they would like to avert at all costs, that is the loss of wickets in a flurry which might rekindle fears of the last pink-ball Test at Adelaide. For Australia, it is imperative to win this game keeping the WTC points table in mind. With South Africa leapfrogging Australia into the second position, the battle at Adelaide has now become a must-win match for the Aussies.

Pitch conditions:

It goes without saying that the conditions will be massively in favour of the fast bowlers. The pink ball which comes in with an extra bit of lacquer will be generating massive lateral drift while the pacy and bouncy surface of Adelaide will be a dream pitch for the seamers to make merry.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 109

Australia: 45

India: 33

Match Details:

Australia vs India, 2nd Test, 2024

Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Date: 6th December 2024

Time: 9:30 AM

Squads:

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran

Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland