India vs Australia 2017: 5 ways Australia can sustain their momentum at Bangalore
Australia surprised themselves and the whole of the cricketing fraternity to churn out a rare win in India in the inaugural Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2017. Buoyed by a magnificent hundred from Steven Smith and a twelve-wicket haul by Steven O'Keefe, Australia humbled India within three days to end their 19-match unbeaten streak.
The keys to Australia's success were the preparation they had in Dubai prior to the series and their series loss in Sri Lanka. While they were whitewashed in Lanka, Australia learnt some valuable lessons about playing in the sub-continent.
Some hard yards in the Dubai nets prepped them up for a sterner challenge in India and they were greeted with the driest of dry wickets in Pune. Surprisingly, these kinds of wickets often tend to work in favour of the underdogs and so it did.
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However, Smith and co. will be aware that India are going to come back harder and stronger. While complacency could have played a role in India's loss in the first game, it was their inability to bat against the Aussie spinners that will delight Australian coach, Darren Lehmann.
When the second Test at Bengaluru starts, Australia will have to get themselves prepared to face a rejuvenated Indian side. For a home team to lose the way they did at Pune is embarrassing, to say the least, and Kohli and Kumble will have to ensure that no stone is left unturned when the battle ensues at Chinnaswamy.
Here we take a glance at how Australia can keep themselves motivated and negate the Indian threat at Bangalore.
#5 Keeping Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara silent
The Pujara-Kohli duo has been the lynchpin of India's batting line-up in Tests of late. Much of India's unbeaten streak was achieved as a result of the brilliance of this pair. They have drilled opposition to the ground by batting patiently.
Kohli has been in such a phenomenal run of form that anything below 50 from his bat is considered a failure. Pujara, on the other hand, has been a rock at No. 3 for India, piling on truckloads of runs since his comeback. In Pune, Australia dismissed both of them quickly in both innings and it resulted in India being bowled out for 105 and 107.
If they need to put India on the back foot they have to get rid of the duo early. Without a fulcrum to bat around, India will struggle to put up runs on the board. While this isn't an easy task, Australia have done it already and they just need to stick to their plans.