In the crucial fourth Test match between India and Australia in Dharamsala, which also acts as the series decider with the scoreline leveled at 1-1, Australian captain Steve Smith has won the all-important toss and in a no-brainer of a decision, has decided to bat first on a pitch which is expected to offer excellent batting conditions for the first three days of the contest. This comes as a massive blow to the Indian team who head into the contest without their inspirational skipper and the best batsman in the squad, Virat Kohli.
But it’s not all doom and gloom for India as they will back themselves in their own backyard to put up and excellent performance and win the Test series. Keeping this in mind, they have brought two changes in their playing eleven, replacing Ishant Sharma with a swing bowler in the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and more importantly, going into the Test with an out-and-out fifth bowler in Kuldeep Yadav.
The inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav might prove to be the trump card as the Australians haven’t faced him and not much is known about him in international cricket. Chinaman’s are also a rare breed of bowlers in international cricket and you don’t face many of them in world cricket. The Australians might find it really hard in picking up Kuldeep off his hand and also off the pitch in this Test match. He is also a bowler who is unfazed by the big occasions as proven by his stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and he has been long touted as India’s next big thing in the spin department.
The inclusion of Bhuvneshwar Kumar is also a wise move as the conditions are expected to favor the swing bowlers. Getting the responsibility of captaincy might also fire up the Indian skipper for this Test match, Ajinkya Rahane and we might just witness a brilliant innings off his willow in Dharamsala.
All in all, despite winning the toss, the Australians will still have to be wary of the Indian charge in the Dharamsala Test.
