In Ahmedabad, everything is about colour. Hot pink and deep purple to celebrate Holi festival the day before Thursday’s fourth Test. The sea of orange planned for morning one, masses of people brought in on buses in a political flex for India’s prime minister. Emerald green for the pitch that India would have used had they won the third Test and locked in a World Test Championship final in England. Pure white covers on the drier pitch they will use instead, with a win still required.
For Australia, the obsolescence of a green seamer means that they can rely on Green and a seamer. That is, all-rounder Cameron Green can be the support for a lone pace specialist in Mitchell Starc, leaving room to pick three spinners.
As recently as two Tests ago, even within the team management making the decision, this was seen as a gamble. Australian teams don’t pick three spinners, at least not since radar was invented. And two of this particular three had one Test between them. But after setting up what should have been a win in Delhi, then securing one in Indore, there is suddenly faith in Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy.
The new kids picked up five-wicket bags in an innings, taking it in turns to dismiss Virat Kohli. Lyon watched on, gave guidance, then took 11 in the match at Indore.
So, even though the Ahmedabad pitch looks like it will be better for batting than anything seen in the series, it is still likely it will be shorn of grass at either end, meaning Australia would stick with the method and keep all of those spin options at their disposal. For the stand-in captain, Steve Smith, it was all about them giving him variety.
“Kuhnemann, spinning the ball away from the bat, bowled really well that first morning [in Indore] when the wicket was … not sure you’d call it tacky, but a bit more stoppy probably than it was as the game went on. [Lyon] has gone from strength to strength. Murph can bowl a bit more side-spinning than Nathan can and doesn’t get as much bounce and can defend really well as we saw last game when he has to. They are all different, but they have good knowledge of the game, a good understanding of what they are trying to do.”
That isn’t going down well with some of the less imaginative traditionalists, who want fast bowlers to come back to knock some heads off and who most likely also think the team didn’t sink enough cans on the flight over.
That attitude, said Smith, was “mind-boggling to me when we look at these surfaces and we see what we’ve had, 11 innings in six days or something like that. Spinners have taken the bulk of the wickets and you see how difficult it is to play the spin … it’s good that we are able to show we can play with three spinners and win.”
The first task will be to get through the first morning without being overawed. Ahmedabad’s cavernous stadium is named after the country’s PM, Narendra Modi, and he will be there to meet his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese. As a show of political strength, the plan is to top the 100,000 capacity with Modi supporters, not because of their interest in cricket, but because of his Bharatiya Janata party.
Australians with a few Boxing Day Tests behind them would be some of the few cricketers in the world to have dealt semi-regularly with crowds nearing that size. The noise and intensity, though, could reach another level, if the prognostications hold true. Even if it falls short, like many hyped crowd expectations, the turnout will still be huge and whatever their motivations for being there, no doubt those who come will make themselves heard when play begins.
For an Australia team trying to become the first visiting side in a decade to beat India twice in a series, after an emotional and tiring tour, that will be one more degree of incline added to a steeply uphill task.
