Steve Smith will tell Australia to learn from their Delhi mistakes and play at their own pace as they battle for pride in the third Test against India.
From 85-2 in their second innings last time out, Australia crumbled to 113 all out, and India rolled to a six-wicket win that allowed them to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The best Australia can do is draw the series, and stand-in captain Smith wants to see more resilience from the batters, including himself among those that fluffed their lines last time out.
In fact, he was the lowest scorer of all Australia's specialist batters last time out, with nought followed by nine, and Smith being pinned lbw by Ravichandran Ashwin when sweeping was the trigger for the tourists' implosion.
Smith said on Tuesday: "I don't think there's been too many times I've walked off the field and I've gone, 'What the hell am I doing?'."
He was left "bedazzled" and "pretty angry" with his own blunder, adding: "It wasn't my finest moment.
"We probably just rushed things a little bit, and it's something we'll talk about. We don't have to play at such a high tempo and risky tempo."
Smith, who says Australia must "learn to adapt a little bit better", has not managed a half-century in his last five Test innings in India, his longest such barren stretch in the country.
He has never gone six successive Test innings in any country without making at least a fifty, so he has one last chance to avoid this being the first time.
India's 2-0 series lead means they have won their last three men's Tests against Australia, having also tasted victory in Brisbane in January 2021. Their longest winning streak in Tests against Australia is four matches.
Australia are without regular skipper Pat Cummins, who has returned home for personal reasons, but Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc are poised to return from injury.
The tussle in Indore could see Virat Kohli become just the fifth man to reach 4,000 runs in Tests played in India, as he stands 77 runs short of that milestone.
India captain Rohit Sharma will aim to close out a series victory at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, and there is the tantalising prospect of these teams meeting again in the World Test Championship final at the Oval in June.
That is in the back of minds for now, but will come to the forefront soon enough, possibly if India secure the series before the fourth match at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
The prospect of India asking for a green pitch for that game, rather than the spinner-friendly surfaces they have been playing on so far, has been teased already.
Rohit wants India to be smart about their preparation for a likely trip to London, and while they would not be able exactly replicate English conditions, a green pitch would at least to some extent simulate what likely awaits them.
The India skipper said it was "definitely a possibility", adding: "If we do what we do here and we get the result we want, we might kick off doing something different in Ahmedabad."
He pointed to India and Australia having plenty of prior experience of performing in England that could stand them in good stead.
"It's not going to be alien conditions as such for both teams," Rohit said, "so it will be a good contest between the teams, whoever the two teams are."
Borthwick names unchanged starting England team for Australia clash
Steve Borthwick has named an unchanged starting team for England's match against Australia on Saturday with two changes on the bench.
England enter their second November Test looking to bounce back from their narrow 24-22 defeat to New Zealand last weekend.
Borthwick, however has elected to name the same group that started against the All Blacks, though Henry Slade will shift to inside centre, while Ollie Lawrence moves to outside centre.
Marcus Smith retains his place at fly-half while Jamie George continues to lead the side at hooker, but there is no place for Theo Dan or Ben Curry.
The pair are replaced by Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ollie Sleightholme as England move from a six-two split between forwards and backs to a five-three combination.
Hooker Cowan-Dickie will make his first England appearance since November 2022 if he is introduced off the bench.
“Facing Australia is always a massive challenge, and we’ll work diligently this week to ensure we’re physically and tactically prepared to take on the Wallabies,” said Borthwick.
“The passion and energy from the crowd at Allianz Stadium last weekend was absolutely brilliant, from the opening whistle to the final moments, and we can't wait to be back at home this Saturday."
England squad in full:
George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer; Ellis Genge, Jamie George (captain), Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Ollie Sleightholme
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
