MELBOURNE: Australia head to the New Year’s test in Sydney full of cheer after a brilliant finish at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and with confidence that pace veteran Mitchell Starc will be fit to bowl in the series finale.
Australia snatched a 184-run win in the fourth test at the MCG on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, with their bowlers taking seven wickets in an extraordinary final session on day five.
Starc was sore on the final days of the match, pinching at his back and grimacing at the start of his spells, but bowled through the pain to capture the key wicket of Virat Kohli.Staff put Starc’s discomfort down to rib soreness but said the big left-armer would probably be ready to go again at his home ground.”Any time you get through the game, it’s always a good indicator that you’re a chance at the next game,” head coach Andrew McDonald told reporters.
“It didn’t stop him. Clearly there was a little bit of discomfort early on in spells, but once he got warm it seemed as though he was pretty free.”Australia’s bowling was of the highest quality on the final day and there were positives in the batting, too, throughout the match in Melbourne.
Teen debutant Sam Konstas made a thrilling first innings 60 and fellow opener Usman Khawaja shrugged off a lean run with a half-century but selectors have a big decision to make around struggling all-rounder Mitchell Marsh. Though consistently outstanding in the field, the Western Australian has had a poor series with the bat and has been used only sparingly with the ball.
Marsh had a sore back in Perth but McDonald said it was not a factor and that he was just not needed for longer spells with the ball. Australia have another all-rounder in the squad ready to step up in the form of Beau Webster. A draw in Sydney would be enough for Australia to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy contested between the nations, which India, winners of the last four series, have long held.
Australia will hope to finish off with another win, though, given it will secure the champions a second successive place in the World Test Championship final next year.South Africa have already qualified for the final at Lord’s.
Melbourne defeat brings fresh calls for Rohit, Kohli to exit test arenaSpeculation that India captain Rohit Sharma and batting stalwart Virat Kohli are set to call time on their test careers has snowballed as the veteran pair continue to struggle in the five-test series in Australia.
India, who won their last two test tours in Australia, went 2-1 down in the series after their stunning defeat in Melbourne on Monday, with the hosts needing only a draw in Sydney to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Opener Rohit has just one fifty and 10 single-digit scores in his last 15 test innings, and even a move down the order failed to pay dividends for the 37-year-old.
Under his captaincy, India have lost five tests this season, equalling their unwanted record from 1999-2000 under Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli, one of the greats of the modern game, has not fared much better.The 36-year-old struck a century in the opening test in Perth but had a wretched season overall with nine single-digit scores in 17 innings this test season.
Both New Zealand and Australia have exploited his vulnerability to left-arm spin and outside the off-stump line, rendering him a walking wicket at times.”Is it time to take a call on seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli?” the Hindustan Times newspaper asked on its front page after the defeat in Melbourne, where India lost seven wickets after tea on day five.
That sentiment was echoed among fans in the cricket-mad country where Rohit and Kohli are practically worshipped, with the term “happy retirement” trending on Monday. Both players quit Twenty20 Internationals immediately after guiding India to their second 20-overs World Cup title in June.”Is the Rohit-Kohli retirement announcement round the corner?” asked the Indian Express.
”The curtain is beginning to slide down from above; will they give themselves one more test at Sydney with BGT still open and out there for the taking or ...?”The Times of India called for an immediate changing of the guard, saying the senior batters were “in danger of being termed as liabilities”.
The Melbourne defeat not only dented India’s chances of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it effectively ended their hopes of reaching the World Test Championship final for the third time in a row.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said another failure in Sydney could prompt Rohit to quit test cricket and that India should draft in new faces for their England tour next year.”The next cycle of the World Test Championship will be the cycle for 2027. You should see new faces for that,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
