Australia vs India: Justin Langer hopes for Perth to serve a bouncy wicket

Australia, led by Tim Paine, have well and truly been pushed onto the backfoot as India have won the opening Test at Adelaide Oval by 31 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The second match is scheduled to get underway on Friday, December 14 at the new Perth Stadium and the home team would be desperate to put their best foot forward and make a strong statement.

In the meantime, Australia’s head coach Justin Langer is hopeful for the Perth strip to provide pace and bounce to the fast bowlers. The former cricketer also watched the recent Sheffield Shield match at the same venue between Western Australia and New South Wales that was won by the latter by 104 runs. He also prays for the wicket to be similar to the one at the WACA.

It’d be a great thing for Test cricket

“I’m really fascinated and can’t wait to see what the Optus wicket brings. I went and watched a bit of the game, NSW versus WA. Certainly some pace and bounce. We’ve (also) seen some pace and bounce in it during the one-dayers and T20 game,” Langer was quoted as saying in Cricbuzz.

“Again it’s an unprecedented period – the first Test match on a drop-in wicket in Perth at the new stadium. Time will tell what the wicket brings. Hopefully, that’s what it is traditionally at the WACA, that’s what we’ve talked about for a long time, pace and bounce. If we can get that, it’d be a great thing for Test cricket,” he added.

The Aussie pacers- Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood- were decent in patches in Adelaide, but couldn’t maintain the pressure on the Indian batsmen. Subsequently, the visiting team won the encounter by 31 runs. They would definitely want the new Perth deck to generate some serious pace in order to ruffle the feathers of the in-form Indian batters.

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