Question mark over test fitness of ‘freak’ Cummins

With the series leveled 1-1, Australia will try to retain the trophy with another win in the third Test to be played in Ranchi beginning March 16.

The spin-friendly pitch at Ranchi dictating that the tweakers will again carry a bulk of the workload, while Cummins will likely be deployed in the same manner that proved so effective for Starc with the second new ball at Bengaluru.

Ground staff initially refused to let players, staff members or media take photographs of the pitch.

Not only the match referee but also the umpires have been changed for the last two Test matches.

Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson is the latest to join the list of Virat Kohli’s admirers. Australia won the toss in the first Test to take a 1-0 lead. Therefore, the Ranchi Test would be a crucial Test of the thrilling series. Even the draw, at 11/4, doesn’t hold out much hope for the visitors.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, however, will escape sanction as boards are not required to give the ICC an explanation for below average pitches as they are for those deemed to be poor or unfit. We have put up hoardings across the city mentioning our “first Test match on Jharkhand soil” with Dhoni’s photo.

“It was going up and down quite a lot so that was a lot more of a challenge”. When you’ve got a caged lion you expect them to come out pretty hard, to get away.

Is Cummins the right choice to replace Starc because the former is highly inexperienced? Glenn Maxwell, Stoinis, Usman Khawaja and Ashton Agar are all in contention.

Delhi-born off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who claimed two big wickets in the first Test as Pune, may make his cut in the playing eleven at Ranchi to support the formidable pair of Ashwin-Jadeja.

“We love the drama but when we get it, no one is sure how to handle it”.

He was man of the match last week in his Shield return, taking eight wickets in an outright win over South Australia that has the Blues poised to qualify for the final should they beat Western Australia in Perth this week.

Within three years of its maiden ODI, the venue has hosted four ODIs and one Twenty20I and the third Test will ink a new chapter in the stadium’s history.