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Bengaluru: After two batting collapses in a shocking in opening Test, India little under pressure in 2nd Test against Australia starts from Saturday at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
It is little wonder the Indian batsmen such as Murali Vijay want to start all over again.
Skipper Virat Kohli blamed India's batting -- they were skittled for 105 and 107 -- for the unexpectedly lopsided 333-run defeat. India hadn't lost at home in the 20 previous tests, while Australia entered the series on a streak of nine losses in tests played in Asia.
The Pune pitch was later rated as "poor" by International Cricket Council's match referee, Chris Broad, in his match report. Left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, not a noted big turner of the ball, snared 12-70 in his fifth test and tormented the highly-rated Indian batting lineup on its own turf.
India's batsmen are renowned for their ability to produce big innings in subcontinental conditions.
But the first test loss at home since 2012 has raised questions over the Indian batsmen's ability to handle a wicket where the ball is turning square. The Australians, more accustomed to pace and bounce, tallied more than 500 runs in their two innings and won inside three days.
Despite the apparent role reversals of the rival teams in Pune, India will again be relying on its two premier spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to pose a challenge to Steve Smith's Australian lineup on a wicket which is expected to be another slower one, but unlikely to crack up until the last couple of days.
India also needed to address its fielding close to the wicket after putting down at least five catches at Pune, including some routine chances while Smith was compiling his century.
On otherhand, Australia had a remarkable turnaround of form under Smith since an overhaul of the team following a series loss to South Africa at home late last year.
The Australians swept Pakistan 3-0 and then spent a week in Dubai to get prepared for the challenge in India, where they haven't won a series since 2004.
The Australia paceman, usually the main threat in the bowling attack, had little involvement in the second innings at Pune as the spinner O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon took all 10 wickets on a rank turner - conditions created to favor India.
Pace spearhead Mitch Starc is expecting to do a lot more work in the second test, although he still doesn't see the conditions favoring the seam bowlers.
Teams from
India: Virat Kohli (c), Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinav Mukund, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav
Australia: Steven Smith (c), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Swepson
Stats and trivia
Match facts
March 4-8, 2017
Start time 0930 local (0400 GMT)
