NEW DELHI:
Rohit Sharma's grace and
Virat Kohli's class will confront the ultimate 'Test' on a fiery Gabba field, when India will play the third game of the Border-Gavaskar series on Saturday against an Australian squad keen to correct the record.
Brisbane could determine how the rubber plays out and whether Rohit's team will continue to control their destiny in the current World Test Championship, as the series is tied at 1-1.
The greatest chance for India is still Australia's batting weakness, which might cause a collapse if a certain Travis Head doesn't choose to be the marauder.
When considering uneven batting form, Steve Smith is currently in the same boat as Kohli.
When it comes to bowling, India's Jasprit Bumrah has made all of the other bowlers in the series look insignificant.
He needs more help at the other end, no doubt, but more than that, he needs runs from players like Kohli and Rohit to give him a psychological boost before he can unleash his thunderbolts.
The two modern megastars will be determined to lead the way on a field where an Indian team demonstrated resilience like never before back in 2021, despite the decibel levels of "outside noise" about their declining form having been building for some time.
The duo would be the first to acknowledge that statistics are always accurate, and the numbers have not been flattering.
If either bounce or seam movement were to be controlled, Rohit and Kohli would still be difficult to deal with. A double whammy was delivered by the hosts: bounce with a generous dousing of grass for additional seam movement.
Although they are skilled, the form has abandoned them, at least for the time being.
Over the past year, India's worst problem has been their awful first innings batting in both home and away games, with six totals of 150 or less.
Additionally, the first innings averages for Rohit and Kohli in the 2024-25 season are a dismal 6.88 and 10, respectively.
With a century on the mellow Perth track, Kohli has been able to relieve some pressure. However, Rohit needs a captain's knock to establish himself as a leader who leads by example, in addition to giving him more self-assurance.
With world-class operators like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood, who is now again fit to play with Scott Boland making room for him, Rohit is seasoned enough to understand that he can't always hit his way out of difficulty.
Although Rohit has always been a white ball titan, he will be regarded as cricket royalty for eternity if he can take the lead at Gabba. He must first choose his batting position before he can do it, though.
He appears to be a walking wicket if the ball darts around as it should at the Gabba because he isn't trusting his defense sufficiently.
Is he more suited to open or at number six, where he may attack the sluggish old Kookaburra if the top order plays steadily? That question can only be answered by the skipper.
In the first two Test matches, senior off-spinner R Ashwin and Washington Sundar were reliable but not outstanding; yet, given his track record in international settings, Ravindra Jadeja is a safer choice if India wants to add batting depth.
In terms of pace bowling, captain Rohit admired rookie Harshit Rana's big heart, while Akash Deep is gifted with better skills.
Australia's batting is just as brittle as India's.
Head has had a Rishabh Pant-like effect on his days, which often come against India.
However, the Indians have been bowling straight lines to Steve Smith, which raises concerns about his form. Even though Marnus Labuschagne worked hard to reach a 50 in Adelaide, he no longer looks like the prolific scorer he once was.
Even though Nathan McSweeney still has a ways to go before he is a surety in the team, he has shown tenacity in the first innings in Adelaide.
However, Australia has done a good job of identifying India's dependence on Jasprit Bumrah's initial stint with the new Kookaburra. The host team is aware that it can exert pressure on other bowlers, who aren't nearly as skilled as the Gujarat slinger, if it can play that out without suffering too much harm.
Teams:India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Catch Lovlina Borgohain's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 5. Watch Here