Beaming with confidence India take on Australia as Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bat first in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi on Friday (February 17).
Skipper Rohit dropped Suryakumar Yadav to bring in Shreyas Iyer for the second Test while left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann made Australia debut as Cummins also included Travis Head in team's playing XI.
Meanwhile the second Test also marked Cheteshwar Pujara's 100th Test. He became the 13th Indian to play 100 Tests.
“We'd have batted first as well. The pitch is dry, but I think the application we showed last game put the toss away from the game. You just have to come out and play good cricket, and that's been the chat in the group to not worry about the toss. We are all thrilled for him, his family is here as well. 100 Test matches isn't easy, there have been plenty of ups and downs in his career. One change for us - Shreyas Iyer is in for Surya,” India captain Rohit said after the toss.
“We'll bat first. The middle looks like there's grass but bare at both ends. Plenty of turn there, will be a good Test. Cam Green and Mitch Starc aren't playing, but we've got Travis Head coming in for Renshaw, and Matthew Kuhnemann makes his debut,” Australia skipper Cummins after winning the toss.
Pitch report
“First reaction is it looks better than the first Test. It is a two-faced pitch which looks good in the centre but changes as you come closer to the stumps, that's where the spinners will be effective. It looks like a Day 3 wicket right now with big cracks already, right in the zone for the spinners. The groundsmen though say it is unlikely to break up. It is a very dry wicket, so don't be surprised if the seamers come into play early. Pretty good for batting first on Day 1,” Sanjay Manjrekar and Matthew Hayden analysed the pitch.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann.
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