Key posts
India make one change to batting order
India has made one change with Shreyas Iyer coming into the batting order for Suryakumar Yadav.
India
Rohit Sharma (c)
KL Rahul
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Shreyas Iyer
Ravindra Jadeja
Srikar Bharat (+)
Axar Patel
Ravichandran Ashwin
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Siraj
Head, Kuhnemann confirmed
Cummins has confirmed that Head is in, Kuhnemann too with Renshaw and Boland out.
He said the team was raring to go.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma says he would have batted and the pitch looks pretty dry – he said you can’t worry about whether you win the toss in India, you just need to apply yourself.
Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will play his 100th test, he is the 13th Indian to reach the milestone.
Travis Head warms up.Credit:Getty Images
Australia will bat
Pat Cummins has won the toss and Australia will head in to bat first.
The two captains – Rohit Sharma of India and Pat Cummins of Australia – are seen at the coin toss on day one of the second Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Credit:Getty
Kuhnemann’s special moment
Matthew Kuhnemann has received his baggy green before play as we count down to the opening ball of the second test in Delhi, he’s shown here being congratulated by Steve Smith.
Matthew Kuhnemann of Australia is seen after he was capped to play his first test match for Australia.Credit:Getty Images
Selectors abandon plans after Nagpur thrashing
By Daniel Brettig
Agar’s situation is a difficult one, having struggled for rhythm in his return to the Test side against South Africa in Sydney and then continued those tribulations in training in India.
The beneficiaries are Head, returned to the team on a wave of popular support, and Kuhnemann, who has shown plenty of poise as a straightforward left-arm tweaker with plenty of consistency to his method – something he demonstrated with the white ball in Sri Lanka last year.
Australia’s likely XI
From all reports in Delhi, it looks like there will be two changes to the Australian side. How the tail is worked out remains unclear given we have seen so little of Kuhnemann or Murphy batting at this level.
We are still waiting for the Indian side but they should be very similar to the first test.
Both teams will be confirmed at the toss.
Australia (likely side)
David Warner
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Peter Handscomb
Alex Carey (+)
Patrick Cummins (c)
Nathan Lyon
Matthew Kuhnemann
Todd Murphy
Matthew Kuhnemann and Travis Head.Credit:Getty Images
All signs point to Head, Kuhnemann playing
Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland don’t seem to be doing all that much out there, same with Cameron Green, who is kicking a soccer ball.
They’re about to get in the huddle and there looks to be a bag out there with a baggy green in it. It will be shortly sitting on Matt Kuhnemann’s head.
Starc, Boland don’t have spikes on
Andrew Wu reports on how things look from Delhi with just under an hour until play starts.
Report: Travis Head recalled
We are waiting for the final XIs to be revealed but Channel Nine’s Tom Rehn has tweeted Travis Head is expected to be recalled.
There is still no word on whether Australia will play a third spinner or whether Cameron Green will take his place in the side.
If Green is able to play, that could open the door for him to be the second seamer and allow left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann to make his debut, likely in place of Scott Boland.
Play is due to start at 3pm and the TV coverage at 2.30pm with the toss soon to follow that.
Pitched battle: How to survive as a batter in India
By Greg Baum
Waiting nervously to bat in the first Test in Mumbai in 2001, Adam Gilchrist tried to visualise himself as in and set, obviating the paralysing tensions of first ball, first run, first half hour. “I tried to make my mind and my heart and my body feel like I’d already faced 30 balls and was 20 not out,” he said. “That’s the optimum state you want to be in, in any innings.”
At 5-99, he joined Matthew Hayden. “He verbalised [his approach]. If he saw a ball with a slightly higher trajectory, he’d say out loud ‘full’,” Gilchrist said. “If it was a slightly later release, and it was going to be short, he’d say ‘back’ or ‘short’. It was his trigger. It allowed him to be decisive, even in defence.”
Matthew Hayden batting in India in 2001.Credit:Hamish Blair/ALLSPORT
Both made thumping centuries, and together put on 197 and Australia cantered away with the match. Hayden proceeded to make 549 runs in that epic – albeit lost – three-match series. Gilchrist barely made another run, but assimilated enough knowledge and awareness to lead Australia as locum captain to a rare series victory in India three years later.
