To find out if their star player will play in the first Test against India, Steve Smith revealed that the team would have to wait.
Australia’s vice-captain Steve Smith said all-rounder Cameron Green is unlikely to play in the first Test since he has not faced fast bowling in the nets before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match between India and Australia. Starting this Thursday, the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur will host the first Test between India and Australia. Green was hurt in December’s second Test match between South Africa and Australia in Melbourne after being hit by pace Anrich Nortje. He played despite the agony to score 51*, which followed a first-innings five-for, but he was benched for the next Test in Sydney.
During Australia’s first practice at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, Green did not bat.
Australia’s vice-captain has declared that the team must wait for the decision on Green’s inclusion in the playing XI before the first Test against India, despite the fact that it is highly improbable that Green will be able to participate.
To paraphrase, “I don’t think he is [going to play]. To my knowledge, he has not yet faced fast bowlers. My guess is that he won’t be participating, but you never know. To be honest, I’m not sure. We’ll see,” Steve Smith stated in a pregame press conference in Nagpur.
Still, “I think it’s doubtful,” he said.
So, for the first Test, Australia will field only four bowlers and a specialist hitter at No. 6.
Two days before the commencement of the Test, the pitch looked exceptionally dry, suggesting that Australia will play two spinners and two quicks.
This place is bone dry. There is one end in particular that I think will spin a bit, especially if our left-arm spinner spins it back into our left-handers. One part of it is particularly parched. Smith remarked, “Aside from that, I can’t really get a decent gauge on it.
I don’t expect the wicket to provide much bounce. It’s going to be fairly skiddy and, perhaps, a little up-and-down movement for the seamers as the game progresses. Those fissures were quite sloppy. When we get out there, we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Since Josh Hazlewood is out due to injury, the position of replacement is a cinch for Scott Boland. Green and Lance Morris are the only other quicks on the team, but Morris has only bowled to the middle order in Nagpur.
To do so, however, would be challenging without Green, who bowled in the middle of the VCA Ground on Tuesday as part of his recuperation after finger surgery.
Smith answered, “Perhaps,” when asked if he planned to pair Nathan Lyon with either Agar, Todd Murphy, or Mitchell Swepson. This would be more of a possibility if Greeny were in good health.
Honestly, I can’t say for sure without him. We will be discussing our thoughts and plans at a strategy meeting this afternoon. Australia’s vice-captain conceded that the best team will be determined by the selectors.
The Australian team consists of captain Pat Cummins, vice-captain Steve Smith, wicketkeeper Mitchell Starc, all-rounders Mitchell Swepson and David Warner, and all-rounders Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Hazlewood, and Peter Handscomb.
India’s starting XI for the first two Tests includes captain Rohit Sharma, vice-captain KL Rahul, first choice Cheteshwar Pujara, second choice Virat Kohler, third choice Shreyas Iyer, fourth choice KS Bharat, fifth choice Ishan Kishan, sixth choice Ravichandran Ashwin, seventh choice Axar Patel, eighth choice Kuldeep Yadav, ninth choice Ravindra Jadeja, tenth choice Umes
