Aussies wary of Kohli comeback: Starc

Things have obviously changed since then and the Aussies won’t get that sort of response, but it will get loud because they love their cricket in Bangalore.

On conducive wickets, we dictate terms to the opposition and this time in Pune, it was the other way round as we succumbed to spin in almost four sessions and within 74 overs. After a quick chat with spin consultant, and former India player, Sridharan Sriram at the lunch break, O’Keefe managed to go from non-threatening back-up spinner in his first spell, to dominant spin wizard in his second.

Veteran paceman Ishant Sharma is expected to be axed.

The win in Pune was the 11th of Marsh’s 20-Test career. This is a staggering feat by any standards. Pune wasn’t his best game.

A similar bowling effort will be needed from the hosts in Bengaluru, if they are to level the four-match series.

Australia’s captain, Steve Smith, was naturally upbeat following the win: “We know that we only need to win one more game to regain (retain) the Gavaskar-Border trophy”.

It would be entirely understandable if Michael Beer, the Australian left-arm spinner, felt slightly envious watching Steve O’Keefe mesmerise a flummoxed Indian batting line-up during his astounding match-winning performance in the first Test.

On the eve of the first Test, they nearly panicked into playing three spinners and leaving out paceman Josh Hazelwood, but now they are confident of excelling on any pitch.

In each of the above three series, we can see a common trend – it was the bowlers who rose to the task and delivered every single time. While several gods and goddesses might be on India’s side this time, it seems like the weather gods have something different planned for India’s second test in Bangalore.

With the bowler invariably convinced that the call will go in his favour, it’s imperative for the wicket-keeper to utilise his positioning and guide the process.

If India are to make the most of DRS, the skipper will have to strike a balance of being forthright and showing caution. The first back in 2012 did indeed eventuate in a win to India with Kohli scoring a century and an unbeaten fifty in the second innings.

The modern way of cricket tours is a lot of Test matches in a short time, which is not great when you lose the first Test. Momentum is king. Kohli and his men did themselves no favour by dropping an outrageous number of catches. “Hence you won’t see butterfingers anymore”. I won’t sit here and judge him because he’s played only a few games but he knows how to turn things around and get back into that mindset he started his first series with.

Kohli had a rare failure with scores of 0 and 13 in his two outings. Make no mistake about it. However, in Pune, Kohli got out for a duck in the first innings and managed just 13 runs in the second when chasing a gigantic target of 441.