All eyes on batting unit as India seek spot in WTC final

Ahmedabad: India's batting megastars will be desperate to clear the cobwebs from their head in pursuit of a second successive World Test Championship final berth as they take on Australia in the series-deciding fourth Test here from Thursday.

The equation remains simple for the hosts. Win the series 3-1 and don't depend on the result of Sri Lanka's away rubber in New Zealand for a ticket to summit WTC clash in June. After the spinners from both sides held fort on designer tracks that bordered on being under-prepared, the firm and even bounce on offer at Motera does promise some welcome respite for the batters.

Virat Kohli and company will leave no stone unturned to change the all-too-familiar script of two and half day games, which is starting to get lopsided and boring. The imposing amphitheatre that the Narendra Modi Stadium is, will certainly create the right kind of aura that a high-stakes Test match deserves.

With 100,000 people expected on the opening day to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese watch a cricket match for the first time in a stadium named after the former, the buzz is set to reach a crescendo. But, for maintaining that interest, the likes of Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara will have to take the onus upon themselves to win the mind game and the battle of 22 yards.

Team combination: For India, one straight change will be Mohammed Shami coming in and he will have the seasoned Umesh Yadav for company. Mohammed Siraj will be rested as he is expected to play a key role in India's ODI campaign starting March 17 in Mumbai.

While India's shoddy batting display raised a question if an extra batter would serve as a cushion for the top-order, but if the track is better for the willow-wielders, five bowlers will be needed to take 20 wickets. Axar the batter has been a revelation during the series but his left-arm spin hasn't been utilised as it should have been.

Maybe Motera, where he has played the bulk of his first class cricket and first got Test stardom, will turn the tables once again. As far as keeping is concerned, Dravid is bullish about Kona Bharat despite his below par show with the bat.

Ishan Kishan being given considerable attention ahead of the Test does raise the curiosity level as he is any day a better batsman than the Andhra man. As far as the Australian side is concerned, whether they would dump one off-spinner in Todd Murphy and pick up an extra pacer (Scott Boland or Lance Morris) will be the key question.

Having already clinched the WTC final berth, Steve Smith in his stopgap role would certainly harbour hopes of spoiling the great Indian record of being invincible at home. It hadn't happened since England came in 2012, but after the Indore boomerang, the possibility can't be ruled out. Cricket, after all, remains a game of glorious uncertainties.

Teams (from): Australia: Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (captain), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson. India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.