India look to ride momentum in Sydney amid virus pressures

A Test series featuring moments of high drama on and off the field will lurch forward under the threat of COVID-19 on Thursday, with India’s bowlers aiming to strike a decisive blow as Australia’s misfiring batsmen attempt to regroup.

With a coronavirus outbreak still smouldering in Australia’s largest city, the Sydney Cricket Ground will host a socially distanced crowd capped at 10,000 per day for what would usually be a packed New Year’s Test.

The series is level at 1-1, but India head into the third instalment with momentum after dampening Australia’s Christmas cheer with a dominant eight-wicket win in Melbourne.

Victory would ensure India retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy contested between the nations, two years after their breakthrough 2-1 win in the 2018/19 series.

Not all is well with the India camp, though, and the strains of a long, “biosecure” tour have started to show.

Five of India’s players are under the microscope for allegedly breaching health protocols when out for a meal.

Media reports have said the tourists might boycott the fourth and final Test in Brisbane if forced into more stringent quarantine.

The team has declined to hose down the speculation, leaving the Australian cricket board to affirm India’s support for the tour.

A rising injury count has also created headaches, forcing Ajinkya Rahane’s side to tweak its pace attack for a third successive match.

Shardul Thakur is expected to replace Umesh Yadav but the uncapped left-armer T. Natarajan, called up after Umesh’s calf strain, sent social media abuzz on Tuesday by tweeting a picture of himself in Test whites.

Batsman Lokesh Rahul’s wrist injury has also robbed India of a potential replacement for struggling opener Mayank Agarwal, though experienced batsman Rohit Sharma is available after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Australia have more serious batting problems, having failed to surpass 200 runs in the series.

They are likely to be bolstered by the inclusion of opener David Warner, badly missed while sidelined with a groin strain and set to replace the dropped Joe Burns.

“Very, very hopeful Davey (Warner) will be ready to go. He has done everything possible to be ready for the third Test. Looks like he is moving pretty well, he is very determined to play. We will finalise on him at training this afternoon and make a decision on that. He is looking very, very likely to play the Test match,” the former opening batsman said.

Warner’s opening partner is still unknown. Will Pucovski has been given the all-clear from a concussion and could make his debut, although Marcus Harris is also waiting in the wings.

The form of master batsman Steve Smith, battling through his worst ever run of Test scores with a combined 10 runs for the series, will also be under scrutiny as he faces nemesis Ravichandran Ashwin.

With 10 wickets, Ashwin leads the series bowling with Pat Cummins, and has so far upstaged Australia’s spinner Nathan Lyon , needing only two victims to bring up his 400th Test wicket, will hope to turn the tables at the SCG, traditionally the country’s most spin-friendly pitch.

The weather could affect plans for both teams, with showers forecast for Thursday and Friday.

After Melbourne, India coach Ravi Shastri hailed the team’s turnaround as one of the great comebacks of all time, but the euphoria was short-lived.

Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini were all seen dining in a Melbourne restaurant, in what looked like a biosecurity breach.

But India’s cricket board has taken no action so far, and after the entire touring party tested negative for the coronavirus on Sunday, the five seem to be clear to play.

That would see Gill, who was highly impressive on debut in Melbourne, pad up again, while the explosive Pant will once more keep wicket.

Sharma only joined the team last week after a late injury-enforced arrival. But he was immediately made vice-captain, suggesting he too will play, potentially in place of the under-performing Mayank Agarwal.

There will be a new-look attack with Umesh Yadav out of the series after hurting his calf and T. Natarajan called up as a replacement. India were already without injured regulars Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.

Agencies