India eye to strengthen their grip on the series against bruised Australia

After a rampant conquest of the mighty Aussies at Nagpur, Team India has set sail for the Arun Jaitley Stadium as the nation gears up for the second trial by fire with Australia famished for retribution after an innings defeat in the curtain-raiser.

India extended their clinical form in Tests to another glistening chapter, adding some boisterous sheen to their victory as the visitors were left broken, beaten and bruised. However, there will be a few chinks that will need ironing out as the titans collide again.

The Men in Blue will have a detailed look at their middle-order that seemed shaky before Jadeja came forth with the rescue act. The addition of Shreyas Iyer to the squad can very well be an indication of a customary shuffle to stabilize the Indian ship and provide some valuable assistance to the middle-order that was rock solid in the face of the Aussie invasion. The opening duo might also draw some attention after extended blues for KL Rahul.

Australia, on the contrary, will be hoping to get someone in the center to play the balancing act and provide the much-needed bookend to two of their finest batters, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith who tried their very best to keep the Aussie ship afloat in the opener but were overwhelmed by the Indian bowling incursions.

They will also be relieved to welcome back Mitchell Starc to the squad which will get them someone to move the cherry early in the innings, a factor that really didn’t happen at all, allowing Rohit Sharma to make some early merry against the Australian pace triptych.

No matter the history, what would matter is how the two teams react to the available conditions, given the fact that they are respective juggernauts in their own capacity with some serious firepower glistening from afar.

Venue Watch:

A historic venue, to say the least, Arun Jaitley Stadium has so far hosted a staggering 36 Test matches out of which 6 have been won batting first while 13 have been won batting second. The average first innings score is 342 followed by 316 in the second with the numbers dropping to an alarming 237 and 165 respectively in the 3rd and the 4th innings.

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 103

India: 31

Australia: 43

Match Details:

India vs Australia

Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

17th February to 21st February 2023

9:30 AM IST

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer

Australia:

Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Mitchell Starc