The WACA’s ground Perth is known for its bounce and this time around as well India can expect plenty of bounce from the pitch when the third Test begins in Perth on Friday.
Cameron Sutherland on Sunday said that the wicket for the India-Australia 3rd Test will be similar to the one played last year during the Ashes, when fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Harris took 18 wickets en route to demolishing England and winning the Test match by 267 runs.
The pitch might force Australia to consider a four man pace attack which coach Mickey Arthur disapproves of, but the reports coming from Western Australia is that India might go for a 4 four man pace attack as well, which would mean a game for either Vinay Kumar or Abhimanyu Mithun
Harris and upcoming fast bowler Mitchell Starc have been called as a backup to the Australian squad after injured Pattinson was ruled out of the Test series.
The crowd for the Test is likely to be high with India’s iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar, the only Indian batsman to score a century at Perth, still on 99 international centuries.
Australia coach Mickey Arthur expects India will have problems with the conditions in Perth.
“Certainly the Indian batsman will be troubled by the bounce. They did not look at ease in the first innings at Sydney and they batted better in the second innings but this one (Sydney) and Adelaide are the grounds which closely resemble the sub-continent pitches.” Arthur said.
“The WACA will be completely different – with a lot of pace and bounce for the bowlers. It would be interesting to see how they fare there and what their combination will be.” he added.
India is expected to make a change to the side that played at Sydney, with Rohit Sharma likely to replace Virat Kohli. Despite rumors going around that Mithun or Vinay Kumar will replace Ashwin; there have been calls from many former players to replace Ashwin with Ojha.
“Rohit’s had some difficulties and challenges on pitches which offer bounce and hence he is going to go into a furnace at the WACA because there is going to be bounce there. It would be very interesting if he gets the approval to play in the next Test” Arthur concluded.
