India looks comfortably poised to retain the trophy with a win at the Kotla

Australia has a few demons to slay in order to tackle the ‘slow and low bounce’ this ground is infamous for; all pre-match talk is about another ‘turner’ that could bring about another early end

Riddled with self-doubt, injuries and lack of skill-sets in dealing with spin-friendly surfaces, Australia faces a cautious and upbeat India in its bid to prevent the host from retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with two Tests to spare.

Contrary to popular perception, the second encounter of the four-Test series beginning at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Friday could last longer than the eight sessions of action seen at Nagpur.

Unlike the weather in the Orange City, the cooler temperatures here carry a lot of moisture, and that could lead to the pitch staying batter-friendly for more sessions. The cool mornings and evenings, coupled with breezy afternoons suggest that the faster bowlers could also be on view longer than they did in the first Test.

Strangely, all pre-match talk is about another ‘turner’ that could see an early end, with a day or days to spare. No wonder, Australia has reason to be worried about the ‘slow and low bounce’ this ground is infamous for when facing spinners like R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

Even as the Australians prepare to deal with spin, they could also test the opposition by including a third spinner.

Left-arm spinners Ashton Agar and debutant Matthew Kuhnemann along with the off-spin of batting all-rounder Travis Head offer a choice to the visiting team to go with the duo of Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy.

However, it is not an easy decision to make. The inclusion of a specialist left-arm spinner clearly weakens Australia’s batting line-up. Should Australia go with Head by dropping a batter, it will end up fielding three off-spinners. This decision clearly appears unwise.