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The Narendra Modi Stadium – the largest cricket ground in the world, named after the Indian Prime Minister – will don a festive look when India and Australia square off on Thursday in the fourth and final Test.
With Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in attendance, the Test match has been presented as a setting to celebrate the friendship between the two countries over the last 75 years.
There are posters of the PMs in each and every corner of the ground; a stage has been set for a gala programme and a gold-plated golf cart will give a tour of the ground to the PMs – creating the perfect aura that a high-profile Test match deserves.
As nearly 110,000 spectators are expected to be present on the opening day, it will be a challenge for the teams to cut out the noise and focus on the game. A nine-wicket defeat in the third Test in Indore has made this a must-win game for India in a bid to book a World Test Championship final berth.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will be in attendance.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
In a respite to the batters, the surface promises to offer even bounce – a sharp contrast to the rank-turners that dominated the first three games of the series. Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith believes that of the surfaces that he has played so far in the series, the one here will potentially be the ‘flattest on Day One’. And, that certainly would make it an even contest.
India’s batting would revolve around captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. With the ball turning from the word go, it was a challenge for the batters to step up, but now with a WTC final spot at stake, India would be hoping for its star-studded line-up to be consistent. So far in the series, the team losing the toss has gone on to win the matches, and that’s something the Indian captain has also taken note of.
However, he does not want to believe that the toss is a factor. For him and the team, the mantra is to – “bring your best skills, play best cricket and win the game.”
After a century in the series opener, Rohit has failed to convert his starts, with scores of 32, 31, 12 and 12. Kohli – one of the greatest ambassadors of the format – has struggled in the series with just 111 runs, despite a promising start a couple of times. It has been more than three years since Kohli last scored a century – against Bangladesh in Kolkata in 2019 – and about 15 Test innings since he last scored a half-century in the longer format, and so far, the batter has struggled against spin. After scores of 7, 0, 31 and 1, Pujara fought back with a gritty 59 in the second innings of the Indore Test as his team-mates failed to get going, and in the final Test, he will be looking to keep the momentum going.
Local boy Axar Patel will be expected to chip in with the ball too to serve India’s cause.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
For the touring team, spinners Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kunhemann have enjoyed great success, picking 38 wickets in total, and did not allow the Indian batters to settle down in the Indore Test. Smith defended the decision to play three spinners, despite the criticism from some former players, but indicated that a call on whether to continue with three tweaks is yet to be made.
So, in such a situation, it needs to be seen whether Australia picks an extra pacer – Scott Boland or Lance Morris – to get the balance right. With a tinge of green,the Ahmedabad pitch could favour pacers, tempting the visiting team to pick an additional seamer.
The batting has lacked consistency, but in a key game, the side hopes to tick the right boxes and spoil India’s strong record at home.
Amid the celebrations and excitement, an intense clash awaits.
Teams (from)
Australia: Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (captain), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
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