Ahead of the Test series between Australia and India, The Cricketer considers who would make a combined XI between the two sides
Missing the first Test as he continues to recover from a groin injury picked up in last month’s ODI series, Warner’s focus now is on readying himself for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Despite his troubles in England last summer, his home record in the longest format is astonishing: he averages 65.94 across 73 innings. This time last year, he made scores of 154, 111 and 335.
Picking the openers here is a challenge, given the injuries and doubt surrounding their identities. Australia are without Warner and Will Pucovski for the first Test, while Joe Burns and Marcus Harris are both short of runs.
Mayank Agarwal was the only opener on either side to pass fifty as an India XI faced Australia A in a red-ball warmup game. His Test career has started well, averaging 57.29 with three centuries. In two Tests in Australia two years ago, he made a pair of half centuries.
India’s wall, an excellent player of seam bowling and a fine record in Australia. On his last tour of the country, he hit centuries in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, adding to double centuries against the same opposition in Ranchi and Hyderabad.
A huge player for India, particularly in the absence – after the first Test – of Virat Kohli.
Cheteshwar Pujara has a fine record against Australia
Only available for the first Test due to the upcoming birth of his first child, Kohli remains a part of this composite side.
It is difficult to shake the suggestion that India’s chances in the series centre on his impact in the first match. It would be tremendously typical of Kohli to end his tour with a bang, leaving his country in the best shape possible with a series lead.
The best Test batsman of his generation has always enjoyed facing India. He missed out when Kohli’s men last toured Australia, with Smith serving a yearlong ban for his part in the ball-tampering scandal.
When he last faced India on home soil – in a series that began just a week after the tragic death of Phil Hughes, Smith hit centuries in all four Tests. On a subsequent tour of India in 2017, he struck three further hundreds, all contributing to an overall average against his upcoming opponents of 84.05.
Labuschagne’s only previous Test experience against India came in his first spell in Australia colours, before his re-emergence as a world-beater during and since last year's Ashes series.
He made 38 in his solitary innings in a high-scoring draw back at the beginning of 2019. In his last eight home Test innings, only once has he failed to make a half century.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are at the centre of a formidable middle order
With India seemingly uncertain in the wicketkeeping department, Australia’s captain – maligned at times, takes the gloves here. Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant are both in the tourists’ squad, while Pant took the gloves against Australia A, before hammering a quite remarkable 73-ball century.
Pant's Test career to date has been fraught with highs and lows, however: two stunning centuries – one at the Kia Oval, another in Sydney, but only one score above 39 in his last 14 innings. Paine, on the other hand, has led Australia to the top of the world rankings.
The world’s top-ranked Test bowler averages just 21.78 in Australia and took 59 wickets at 20.13 apiece through 2019. As well as dismissing Kohli four times in five Tests, he has accounted for both Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane twice.
Five short of 200 Test wickets, few make high-quality seam bowling look as easy as the tall Australian.
A fabulous bowler, who looked in tremendous order during the ODI series between the sides and, likewise, was in terrific form during Australia’s 50-over win against England during the summer.
Nathan Lyon is just ten wickets away from 400 in Tests
Tough on Ravichandran Ashwin perhaps, but Lyon sits just 10 wickets away from the 400-mark in Test cricket – a feat that only 15 men before him have accomplished. For an off-spinner playing his home Tests beyond the subcontinent, it is an extraordinary record.
He is already the sixth-most prolific Test spinner of all time, with Harbhajan Singh and Rangana Herath in his sights over the course of the next 12 months. Ashwin, of course, is also a tremendous bowler. But Lyon, doing this somewhat against the odds, pips him here. He has taken 85 wickets against India – more than against any other nation.
The spearhead of India’s seam attack will pose a major threat to the hosts’ batting line-up. On his only previous Test tour of Australia, Bumrah took 21 wickets at 17 apiece.
This time around, he has even developed a modicum of unexpected batting form, scoring his maiden first-class fifty in a tour game against Australia A!
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