INDORE: Indoris ready for third Test There appears to be enthusiastic response to the third Test match between India and Australia slated to be held at the Holkar stadium from today, March 1.
The stadium has a capacity of 30,000 seats with tickets on sale for 16000. As per information, 90 per cent of the tickets have been sold. Interestingly, the pavilion- the most expensive ticket of the stadium, got sold out first. Stadium officials say that now only a few tickets of West Stand Lower costing Rs 420 are left. The remaining tickets/passes have been reserved for political dignitaries, MPCA and BCCI officials and VIP guests. The third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy will begin from March 1. Notably, India has won two of the four-match series. Disappointed by the performance, former Australian team captain Greg Chappel has asked the team to not treat the India tour as a 'sideshow'.
India are expected to enhance their aura of invincibility at home with another series win while a down and out Australia will need nothing less than a monumental effort to bounce back in the third Test, The only hundred of the series, which has been dominated by spinners, has come from the bat of Rohit Sharma. If India get to bat on day one, the conditions will be ideal for the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli to pile on the runs.The trio of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Axar Patel has not just delivered with the ball, it has also scored the bulk of the runs so far in the series. Since they can’t be expected to get runs in the lower order regularly, the onus lies on the top-order.
Contrary to Australia’s inexplicable sweeping tactics, Indian batters have adopted the conventional approach against the impressive Australian spinners. The square at the Holkar Stadium houses pitches with both black and red soil. The curators have decided to go with the black soil, which usually doesn’t offer as much turn and bounce compared to red soil tracks.Their battered and bruised opponents, Australia, have got a lot of time to reflect on their defeats in Nagpur and Delhi. The debacle in Delhi, where they effectively lost the game in session, should hurt more.
In terms of their squad composition, a lot has changed with Pat Cummins back in Australia to be with his ailing mother. Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood and David Warner too are back home. Steve Smith will lead the side. The visitors could not be faulted for the amount of effort they are putting in to stage a comeback in the series
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