Yes, the lead-up to the MCG Test has been prickly and needlessly tense with sections of the Australian media painting India’s players in poor light. But it’s unlikely any of this gamesmanship will have an impact on the touring party
Australian cricketer Sam Konstas speaks to the media at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday. Pic/AFP
Much of Monday here was damp, bleak, borderline depressing. A cold, stiff wind blew across the city, the rain came down in waves, stinging and slanting and dying down almost immediately. The start of the week leading up to Christmas deserved better, but how does man fight nature?
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Off day for Indians
Entirely by accident, India’s cricketers had Monday off, after two days of hard toil on the practice surfaces outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) that Akash Deep, the feisty paceman, termed ‘white-ball’ pitches. The deck for the fourth Test, beginning on Boxing Day Thursday, is unlikely to bear any resemblance to the pitches at the nets that the Indians used on Saturday and Sunday, though curator Matt Page denied any conspiracy, saying the MCG protocol was to prepare practice pitches from three days before the game — Monday, in this instance.
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The lead-up to the fourth Test, with the series in the balance at 1-1, has been prickly and needlessly tense with misunderstandings abounding and sections of the Australian media resorting to convenient twisting of the facts to paint India’s players in poor light. It’s unlikely any of this gamesmanship will have any impact on the players, many of whom have been there and seen it all. There is an effective insulation mechanism in which the cricketers cocoon themselves. In any case, a vast majority will be focused on how they can return to run- and wicket-taking ways rather than be distracted by off-field developments over which they have little control.
India would have gladly taken the current score line at this stage of the five-match series had they been offered it before Perth last month. Their fans feared the worst after the 0-3 shellacking at home by New Zealand, but India regrouped spectacularly at the Optus Stadium in skipper Rohit Sharma’s absence to eke out a memorable 295-run victory. Australia were more than rattled. There were rumours of fissures within the camp, but a return to Adelaide and their date with the pink-ball Test settled all nerves, the hosts drawing level following a commanding 10-wicket win.
It’s a two-Test series now
Australia lorded the exchanges in Brisbane before late Indian resistance and hours of precipitation induced a frustrating stalemate. Now, this is almost a two-Test series, played back-to-back, in Melbourne and Sydney, two of Australia’s more iconic grounds. The MCG is officially a sellout for Thursday’s Day One and it will be an atmosphere like no other, with close to 90,000 fans expected to soak in the entertainment and add their own voice and noise to amp up the battle.
It’s the confluence of these elements — passion, drive, noise, electricity, expectations — that compel champions to shake off their slumber. It’s into this cauldron that Sam Konstas, all of 19 years young, will walk on his first day as a Test cricketer. The New South Welshman is primed to open the batting alongside veteran Usman Khawaja and is braced for a baptism of fire, considering he will straightaway walk into Jasprit Bumrah, on top of his game and currently carrying Australia in the palm of his hand.
India have great memories of the MCG, where four of their 10 Test wins in Australia have come, including two on the bounce in 2018 and more famously in 2020. A three-peat will extend their hold on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Is there any greater motivation?
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