Australia vs India Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2nd Test
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After stunning the hosts with victory in Perth to take a 0-1 Border-Gavaskar trophy series lead, India now have the opportunity to subject Australia to a third consecutive home Test defeat, something we’ve not seen since 1988.
Date/Time: Thursday December 5th 2024: US PST – 8:00pm / US EST – 11:00pm / Friday December 6th 2024: UK – 4:00am
Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia
Weather: Expected to be dry across the first four days, with cloud cover on Day 1, but bright sunshine on Days 2, 3 and 4, although rain could disrupt Day 5.
How To Watch On TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Willow TV
How To Watch Online: UK – discovery+ / US – Willow TV
Australia Team News
The hosts will be forced into a bowling change after Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the second Test with a side strain. Victoria’s Scott Boland has been selected as his replacement. There is also a doubt over Mitchell Marsh, although the likelihood is that he will be fit to play.
Should Marsh also miss out, then it could open the door for all-rounder Beau Webster to make a dream Test debut, having been drafted into the squad. Josh Inglis would also be in contention, whilst Australia are expected to stick with Nathan McSweeney at the top of the order despite him scoring just 10 runs across two innings in Perth.
Predicted line-up: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India Team News
The big question regarding India is where will captain Rohit Sharma slot back into the side after missing the first Test through paternity leave. It would be a huge gamble to break up an opening partnership of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, who added 201 runs for the first wicket in India’s second innings of the first Test.
Shubman Gill could also return to action, having resumed batting in the nets following a fractured thumb. If Gill is passed fit then he should bat at three with Devdutt Padikkal dropping out and either Rohit or Rahul batting in the middle order in place of Dhruv Jurel.
Predicted line-up: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Australia Betting Analysis
Although Mitchell Starc failed to pick up over 4.5 match wickets in the opening Test as we predicted he would in our betting analysis, now is not the time to cash out on the left-arm speedster. Starc’s record across day-night Tests is unmatched among his teammates and the absence of Hazlewood only increases the reliance on him to take the bulk of wickets for Australia in Adelaide. No player boasts more pink-ball wickets in Australia than Starc’s tally of 66 and under the floodlights, his pace and bounce should come to the fore. Back Starc to roar back strongly with 5+ Indian wickets.
India Betting Analysis
Whenever a question is put in front of Yashasvi Jaiswal, the 22-year-old answers it with aplomb and shows why he looks set for a long career as India’s premier Test opener. His latest memorable knock came in the form of 161 in India’s second innings of the first Test and after just 15 Tests for India, Jaiswal now boasts 1,568 runs to his name at an average of 58.07. Such numbers simply cannot be ignored from a betting perspective and makes backing Jaiswal via a small stake to rack up over 70.5 match runs in Adelaide a sensible move.
Australia vs India Expert Prediction
Over the course of history, Australia’s record across day-night Tests is excellent, having won each of their last seven to take place in Adelaide and if they are to turn this series around, extending that streak to eight games is of paramount importance. India though, have momentum in their favour and the belief that once again, they can get stuck right into an Australian batting line-up largely out of form and short of confidence.
But in what are likely to be testing batting conditions, especially when under the lights, the best players are likely to come to the fore and for India, that means Virat Kohli. Coming off the back of his superb unbeaten century in Perth, Kohli boasts the technique and temperament to thrive in these conditions. When taking this into account, it’s well worth backing the India superstar to make 100 runs or more over the course of this day-night Test.
Australia vs India Tip: Virat Kohli to score 100+ runs
