Selection carnage for punch drunk India

Australian captain Tim Paine says his side is ready after a humiliated India overhaul their side for Boxing Day Test.

Steve Smith, captain Tim Paine and Mitchell Starc ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Picture: Alex Coppel.

All of India’s horses and all of India’s men have attempted to reassemble the team again after the loss of Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and composure in the first exchange of this Test series.

Kohli and Shami have gone to India, the selectors have gone to work and the changes to the shattered side are significant.

India’s selectors did not stick to forced changes. Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was dropped and replaced by Rishabh Pant. Shubman Gill will make his debut as hapless opener Prithvi Shaw pays the price for his batting and fielding in Adelaide. Ravi Jadeja makes a reappearance after recovering from his controversial concussion-hamstring in Canberra and paceman Mohammed Siraj makes his debut in Shami’s place.

Ajinkya Rahane replaces Kohli as captain, but it may be that spinner Jadeja will become the team’s aggressive talisman.

Perhaps India believes a wholesale clean-out is the best way to ensure the scars of the loss in Adelaide are avoided at the MCG.

Australia remains confident, intact and not too concerned about who they will be bowling to or who they will be facing.

“We’ve got a pretty settled team, a pretty settled formula, whilst we have checked off who we think might play, what their side might look like and having a few plans and ideas around those players,” Paine said before India announced the side – which they do after their pre-match press conference, presumably to avoid having to answer questions about their selections.

“Our main focus is what we do as a team and executing those with ball and bat, we know if we do that we are hard to beat, but obviously we’ve put a bit of time into players who might come back into their side,” Paine said.

The Australians are aware of how dangerous the recalled Indian players such as Pant can be.

“If we give players like that an inch they will take a mile,” he said.

“So we need to be bang on the mark tomorrow as we were in Adelaide and be prepared to turn up for another five-day battle,” he said.

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“We can’t pay any attention to mental scars or whatever anyone is talking about.

“I mean India is a proud cricket country, they are an extremely talented Test match side with lots of dangerous players.”

Australia will be well aware of how a side can bounce back after a catastrophic innings like India’s 36 all out in Adelaide.

Michael Clarke’s team did it in South Africa in 2011 winning the next Test in Johannesburg – with Pat Cummins named man of the match on debut – after being bowled out for 47 in Cape Town.

Cameron Green, like Nathan Lyon, bowled no overs in the second innings when India was dismissed for 36 by the attack Paine calls the Big Three.

The allrounder he calls the Baby Giraffe is only a few months into a return from stress fractures but looked very dangerous. Green bowled nine overs on debut and may expect to bowl more on the MCG, which is traditionally more batting friendly.

“There are some limits (to how many overs he can bowl),” Paine said. “He’s getting more overs, each game that he plays. We expect him to bowl a bit more in this Test match. “

Cricket Australia is to be commended for holding its nerve, despite the demands of all affected, before making a call on whether to play the match in Sydney.

It will have to decide by the end of the Test match, but the option of putting broadcasters into a hub so everybody can go to Brisbane after Sydney is an option – if an expensive one.

The fallback position is two Tests in Melbourne.

Australian cricket team enjoys Christmas lunch in Melbourne with Josh Hazlewood, Patrick Cummins, Mosies Henriques (not playing), Steve Smith and Manus Labuschagne

Paine sees an upside to the idea of bringing broadcasters and other staff into the hub.

“As I’ve said before, the hub life is not that bad, it’s not like we’re in jail or anything like that, it’s still a pretty good way of living. I don’t think any of us complain,” he said

“There’s no doubt the New Year’s Test in Sydney is a huge part of the Australian summer. And for our team, we’ve got so many guys from Sydney and NSW, so they love playing in front of their home crowds and having their families around, so hopefully that can get off the ground.

“I think at the moment that is the plan. I’ve been pushing hard behind the scenes for (Hobart’s) Blundstone Arena if it’s not but I don’t think that’s going to happen, so the next best place is the SCG?”

The Boxing Day Test is Melbourne’s first major sporting event since the Women’s World Cup final in March and 30,000 people will be admitted.

“It’s going to be different isn’t it. Seeing the MCG sometimes with 30,000 you’re a bit disappointed when you turn up and I think tomorrow again it’s going to have a completely different feel.

“Victoria’s had harsher lockdowns than most of us, so to have 30,000 people there, if you had have told us that a few months ago I don’t think we would have believed you. I think we’re just lucky to be playing a Boxing Day Test at the MCG.”