Aussies, India draw on past Bangalore wins

Now they find themselves in the box seat.

Australia’s captain, Steve Smith, was naturally upbeat following the win: “We know that we only need to win one more game to regain (retain) the Gavaskar-Border trophy”. The other option for India could be to play with three seamers, by bringing Bhuvneshwar in place of Jayant Yadav, but it looks unlikely. However, in Pune, Kohli got out for a duck in the first innings and managed just 13 runs in the second when chasing a big target of 441. Surely, nobody wants to see another three-day Test, least of the BCCI who still have to respond to the ICC’s “poor” status report of the Pune pitch. “Because if you show panic at the top post then the guys are obviously gonna scatter around and not play as a unit”, he had said about it in the past. We’ve had a fantastic home season, but we didn’t play well on that (Pune) surface.

The pre-series talk may have been a bit on the less-intensed side, but with Australia’s win in Pune, a keen contest has unfurled. There also we had lost the first Test but won the series 2-1.

“Having looked at the (Pune) wicket, it was probably going to be a wicket where you couldn’t really play your shots”. They are also well aware of the fact that team India holds the primary rank in the Test.

“We’ve got to use those 15 seconds much better, ” he said after the first Test.

In the past the Australians have been guilty of showing too much aggression but this time around they are willing to occupy the crease. Those things are big positives for us. Once again, Australia will go into this Test without any pressure, knowing full well that it is the hosts who must retaliate and fight their way back into the series.

Last time India hosted Australia in a Bangalore Test, back in 2010, Cheteshwar Pujara made his debut.

But the action now shifts to the Chinnaswamy which is Kohli’s home ground for IPL. Simon Harmer and Imran Tahir are yet to play Test cricket since that series.

Steve Smith has confirmed that Australia will be unchanged for the second Test against India in Bangalore. India’s strength still remains their spinners – they claimed 66 of the 93 wickets taken across five Tests with England previous year – and when the ball isn’t turning alarmingly on a crumbling surface, it is the patience and perseverance of Ashwin and Jadeja which could prove decisive in the second Test. “It was more about the mindset”, he said about the 333-run defeat in Pune, where he had scores of 10 and two.

The manner in which Australia got the better of India in the first Test should give them huge confidence going into the Bengaluru game.

There is little doubt that Virat Kohli’s team will be hot considering how they have swept South Africa (3-0), New Zealand (3-0) and England (4-0) in recent times in India.

The rivalry between India and Australia is now back to where it belongs. It remains to be seen whether the selectors give the same XI another chance after their disappointing performance in Pune.

So which team will prevail in Bangalore?

Vijay was the first to admit while talking to the reporters that spilled catches had contributed to India’s downfall at Pune.