Australia are preparing for their most important day of Test cricket under Pat Cummins’ captaincy as they try to tame India’s batting attack in Delhi.
After posting a modest 263, Australia will need to bowl exceptionally well to restrict the hosts on a pitch without many demons at Arjun Jaitley Stadium.
India could all but bat Australia out of the four-Test Border-Gavaskar series with a commanding day in the middle on Saturday.
Australia were destroyed by an innings and 132 runs last week in Nagpur, giving the trophy holders a crucial 1-0 series lead.
If Australia lose in the Indian capital, any prospect of conquering the final frontier will be all over midway through the series.
Australia’s bold gamble to experiment with playing Cummins as their only recognised quick will be put to the ultimate test after the tourists opted to include Queensland spinner Matt Kuhnemann.
Kuhnemann was playing in front of barely a 100 fans at the Sheffield Shield less than a week ago, but the left-armer opened the bowling as Australia’s 466th Test cricketer alongside Cummins on Friday.
The 26-year-old is playing as a third spinner alongside first Test sensation Todd Murphy and veteran Nathan Lyon after being called into the squad six days ago to replace Queensland teammate Mitchell Swepson.
The last time Australia picked three spinners was against Bangladesh in 2017 when Lyon, Ashton Agar and Steve O’Keefe played, as well as allrounder Glenn Maxwell.
Miserly Victorian quick Scott Boland dropped out for Kuhnemann after playing an important role in Nagpur last week.
“I was very nervous for Matthew (Kuhnemann) – he’s from my home state of Queensland, I’ve captained him a lot,” Khawaja said.
“He’s a terrific young player, a terrific young person and he’s a competitor, that’s one thing I love about him, he loves being in the contest.
“He would have been nervous but you couldn’t really tell, he was on his mark straightaway.
“It was a great start for him, he looked like he was in the game, he created a few half-chances.”
© AAP 2023
