India vs Australia Test: Kohli, top order must fire to stall Australia's march

Heat and colour. These are the twin themes at this time of the year in Ahmedabad, with summer threatening to unleash its full fury even as the bustling city is busy celebrating Holi, the festival of colours.

Neither heat nor colour will be at a premium at the Narendra Modi Stadium from Thursday when India and Australia square off for one final time in a fascinating Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that has provided gripping fare, if not necessarily of the highest quality.

The hunt for World Test Championship points, and therefore the itch to play on surfaces that the Indian think-tank believes are best suited for the brand of cricket they portray at home, have precluded an even contest between bat and ball, though there might be a brief threat from the norm during at least the early exchanges at the world’s largest cricket stadium.

PMs in attendance

Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese will be in attendance on Thursday morning when they will meet the players and metaphorically set the ball rolling. In some quarters, this and the additional activities surrounding the visit of the dignitaries might be construed as a distraction, but the players have played enough and been around enough similar situations not to be either overawed or swayed from the immediate task at hand.

Also read: India vs Australia: Are 3-day finishes, dust-bowls good for Test cricket?

The sandpit in Indore, where India slumped to only their second home defeat in six years, has come in for severe censure, and match referee Chris Broad has rated the surface ‘poor’, which automatically attracts three demerit points. As much as anything else, the track exposed India’s failings against the turning ball and drove a spoke in their theory that these are the conditions that they are most adept at. One is not sure if the surface in Ahmedabad, therefore, is a direct result of what happened in Indore, though given the very little time between the two matches, it is more likely that the basic character of the pitch was decided long before the final act was played out at the Holkar Stadium.

Steve Smith, who will again lead the Aussies in Pat Cummins’ absence, referred to the 22 yards as potentially the best batting track of the series, though what that means in real and tangible terms remains to be seen. The 300-run mark has been breached just once in 12 innings, when India posted 400 in their first innings in the first Test in Nagpur. Otherwise, there have only been two scores of over 250 which, allied with the fact that throughout the series, only one century and seven fifties have emanated, puts the tribulations of the batsmen in perspective.

Firmer surface

At first glance, those trials could ease off temporarily in Ahmedabad. This surface looks a little firmer and slightly less dry than the pitches in previous test matches, which will mean first-inning scores could be more crucial than ever before. Interestingly, in a dramatic break from custom in India, the team winning the toss and batting first has lost all three Tests, and while that doesn’t mean bowling first is an option – it never can be in this part of the world – it does indicate that the toss hasn’t really been a factor at all.

The momentum might be with Smith’s group at the moment because of the manner and the margin of the Indore win, which itself came against all odds, but it will take a brave man to bet against an Indian revival. It’s not often that India have had their home hegemony questioned midway through a series. How they react should make for compelling viewing. Unlike in earlier Tests, and especially in Indore where the ball with the batsman’s name on it was never too far away, the possibility of batsmen trusting the Ahmedabad pitch is a lot higher. How long the pitch can retain that trust is anyone’s guess, though.

Whilst this might sound like a fading, oft-repeated phrase, India must demand more from their top order. Outside of Rohit (207 runs), no one else in the top six has threatened a big score. Axar Patel (185), batting down the order, is second in the list of top run-scorers from both sides combined, but one has to slide down to No. 7 to spot an Indian top-order batsman in the run-making list. That slot is occupied by Virat Kohli, who has looked the part more than once but only has a highest of 44 and a grand tally of 111 runs from five outings.

Focus on Kohli 

The spotlight has been on the former skipper for a while now, and not merely owing to the fact that he hasn’t made a Test hundred for 40 months; he has also lost nearly six runs from his average in that period. Other batsmen have been jettisoned for far less damning returns, but by virtue of his mountain of prior work, Kohli has earned the right to a longer rope. How long that rope ought to be is one of the questions Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid should seriously start considering soon, but it’s a question they will be hoping to put off were Kohli to replicate his recent white-ball international form to the traditional format.

A fit and firing Kohli’s is great not just for the scoreboard but for the feel-good within the changing room. Rohit is now the undisputed leader who rules with a benevolent iron hand when necessary, but Kohli is the quintessential force of nature and brings a certain infectious energy when he is purring. An on-song Kohli is a sight unparalleled on the cricket field, and the expectation that he will rouse himself into something special in front of nearly 100,000 spectators isn’t as far-fetched as it might appear.

Also watch: ‘Champions always find a way’: Ponting on Kohli’s Test form

Australia have been bold and feisty and combative and uncompromising and guardedly adventurous, all traits synonymous with their cricket for so long. They have stood up and asked to be counted when they could easily have rolled over and allowed India to walk all over them after the second Test. They are now within a few good hours of becoming the first team to win two Tests in a single series on Indian soil since England a decade back, in 2012-13, an additional spur if they ever required one. India, proud India, will be desperate to prevent that from happening. This could be an organic cracker.

Podcast: India vs Australia 4th Test: Rohit’s comments create a furore