Ashwin and Rohit's injuries a blessing in disguise for India in Perth: Tom Moody

India will face Australia in the second Test in Perth, starting Friday. Having won the first one in Adelaide, India will be high on confidence and will be looking to continue their winning streak. The pitch at Perth is bouncy and very green, which means captain Virat Kohli may deploy as many pacers possible. India have a potent pace attack in the likes of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav and it remains to be seen who the fourth pacer will be.

Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin will be sitting out of the game due to a back injury and abdominal strain respectively. Perhaps, the injuries have come at the right time because, in their place, Kohli can pick more quicks and go in with an all-pace attack. Tom Moody, the former Australian cricketer, feels the same and mentioned that Kumar can be the ideal fourth pacer for the visitors.

“Rohit & Ashwin’s injuries may have come at a very convenient time, pitch green and bouncy. Bhuvi ideal replacement.. 4 quicks with some part time spin from Vihari,” Moody wrote on his Twitter handle.

Here is Moody’s tweet

Rohit & Ashwin’s injuries may have come at a very convenient time, pitch green and bouncy. Bhuvi ideal replacement.. 4 quicks with some part time spin from Vihari. #ausvind

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) December 13, 2018

India’s best chance to seal the series 

This is India’s best chance of registering a historic Test series win Down Under because the hosts are in a chaotic phase following the ball-tampering saga which saw bans on Steve Smith and David Warner. Australia started 2018 by winning the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney and then beating South Africa in Durban, but ever since, everything has only gone south for them. Those two remain their only Test wins so far this year.

Captain Kohli is also excited about the game, given the nature of the track. “We certainly get more excited than nervous looking at lively pitches now. We understand that we do have a bowling attack which can bowl the opposition out as much as they are convinced about their attack.”

Kohli will want to become the first Indian captain to win a Test series against Australia in the latter’s own backyard, the result of which will be determined in the next few weeks.

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