India will look to drive home the advantage against an Australia plagued by self-doubt
The Hindu
The visitors have been obsessed with the nature of the surface and veered off from time-tested methods with disastrous consequences; Team India yet to take a call on Rahul/Gill conundrum
From the broad glass panes of the press box, the sight of Australian cricketers surrounding the pitch for a closer look when the covers were removed briefly, was all too familiar.
In this edition of the Border-Gavaskar series, the Australians have been obsessed with the nature of the surface and veered off from their time-tested methods with disastrous consequences. The demon of self-doubt has been Australia’s biggest scourge. With the wily Steve Smith at the helm now, can the visitors turn the corner mentally?
The predominantly dry, black-soil pitch with a smattering of red, should encourage spin when the third Test gets underway at the Holkar Stadium here on Wednesday. Leading 2-0 in the four Test series, India will go for the kill.
The Indians left the choice of Rohit’s opening partner — either the out-of-form K.L. Rahul or the red hot Shubman Gill — up the air. The in-form Gill should play.
Not surprisingly, much focus will be on R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Ashwin’s run-up and release have rhythm, with his hip drive and the manner in which he pivots being major factors. Although a finger spinner, Ashwin employs both his wrist and fingers to create a variety of deliveries.
The one that goes through straight and the delivery that hangs in the air and then drifts away combine with deadly effect with his off-spinners. There is flight, deception and venom.
He has worn India’s blues, albeit in an Under-19 World Cup, with K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat as his teammates. He has proudly adorned the Lion’s Crest — the famed Mumbai cricket logo — in all three formats. He has played with Yuvraj Singh, against Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid and has the likes of Rahul and Joe Root in his illustrious list of dismissals. He is also a software developer for an IT giant, based in California. Virtually every middle-class Indian over the last three decades at some stage dreams of being either a cricketer or an IT professional. Saurabh Netravalkar has been combining two dreams, even after relocating to USA to pursue academics at the prestigious Cornell University in 2015.