Issue against pace

As much as the memes are doing rounds about Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon turning Perth into a rank turner after India’s performance against New Zealand spinners, there is a real concern about how they are going to handle pace. At least two of the top six are expected to be playing in Australia for the first time in Tests and the two senior-most batters are not in good form. If things don’t go well, it could be a long tour for the team.

Middle-order conundrum

With KL Rahul expected to open in the absence of Rohit in Perth, it leaves a void in the middle-order. At this point, Dhruv Jurel seems the likely candidate to play as a batter but with Sarfaraz Khan and Nitish K Reddy in the mix, it opens all sorts of headaches for the coach and captain, which is likely to be Jasprit Bumrah, in Perth. One wrong selection could affect the team balance.

Feeling the heat

Two months ago, Gambhir was the man with the midas touch. He, along with T20 World Cup-winning captain Rohit, was expected to get going right away. An ODI series loss in Sri Lanka and a historic home series loss after, not all seems rosy about the head coach who was appointed after his IPL success. How this tour goes could well decide the direction in which his tenure goes.

Pace battery

In 2020-21, one of the key factors behind India’s success was their pace attack. Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav led from front but whoever came in—Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, Navdeep Saini—they all chipped in. This time, a lot will depend on how much the likes of Akash Deep, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna can help out Bumrah and an out-of-rhythm Siraj. Do not be surprised if Mukesh Kumar gets added to the squad at some point during the tour.