After beating Australia in the 1st Test at Nagpur and taking a 1-0 lead, Team India will be aiming to continue the good show in Delhi. There were many positives from the first Test including the form of Rohit Sharma, superb comebacks of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, Axar Patel continuing with both bat and ball. Australia, on the other hand, have many things on their mind. The first and foremost is their batting. Apart from Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, none showed any promise whatsoever on the Nagpur pitch. The fear of the pitch has settled into the minds of visitors even before a ball was bowled. The good thing is that the team is not indulging in any such talks ahead of the Delhi Test.
The history suggests that Feroz Shah Kotla pitch will play slow and low and assist spinners. That’s the nature of the soil in use. Australian batters will have to get ready to score big runs on the difficult pitch again in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. All eyes will be on opener David Warner, who has been under immense pressure. There have been talks about his place in the side and whether it is the right decision to play him. But at the same time, Aussies must back one of their stalwarts and hope he gets back among runs soon.
‘A journey full of hard-work, persistence & grit’ _ _
__ ___ ____: Wishes & tributes pour in as #TeamIndia congratulate the ever-so-gutsy @cheteshwar1 ahead of his _th Test _ _
Watch the SPECIAL FEATURE _ _ #INDvAUS https://t.co/d0a2LjFyGh pic.twitter.com/lAFpNcI7SF— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2023
Smith and Labuschagne are two of their best batters, in terms of current form. They have already shown that with the right application, runs can be scored India. They batted well in the 1st innings of Nagpur, even if for a brief period. What they need is better selection of shots, focus and definitely some luck.
India will start as favorites as they are playing in their backyard and know these conditions in and out. It will be a big moment for Cheteshwar Pujara who will be playing his 100th Test. Pujara’s family, including his wife and father, have all reached Delhi to attend this big match of his career. It will be interesting to see how India’s Number 3 goes in Delhi Test.
Dream11 Prediction – IND vs AUS 2nd Test match
Wicket-keeper: Alex Carey
Batters: Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner
All-rounders: Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Travis Head
Bowlers: Todd Murphy, Mohammed Siraj
IND vs AUS 2nd Test My Dream11 team
Alex Carey, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Cheteshwar Pujara, Steve Smith (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Axar Patel, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Todd Murph