India vs Australia so far has lived up to its billing – hard-fought Test match cricket of the highest order, with both teams, at times, fighting just as much against the conditions as each other. So, under the heat of Ranchi, will India or Australia wilt under the pressure to hand the other the advantage?
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As far as momentum goes, it is with India right now after Virat Kohli's side pulled off an impressive victory in the second Test in Bengaluru.
Momentum, though, as Australia found out, is a fickle thing and it can swing the other way in the blink of an eye – a wicket here, a couple of boundaries there, and that pendulum would have swung to the other corner.
All both these teams can do is continue playing the aggressive, no-nonsense cricket and hope the processes and plans they worked on come to fruition.
For India, the key is their batting.
The much-vaunted lineup hasn't lived up to the billing so far, and India need to stop painting themselves into a corner, forcing someone to play a match-saving innings or, if that fails, crumbling like a heap for little to nothing.
There is a reason why the best batsmen play at the top, and they need to score the vast majority of the runs in Ranchi. The likes of R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja can chip-in, but the responsibility lies with the likes of Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.
In the first innings, India need at least a couple of hundreds from the top five – top six if Karun Nair plays – while playing to the situation in the second innings, like Pujara and Rahane did in the previous Test.
If the batting clicks, you know this India team becomes unbeatable in these conditions.
Australia will know that pretty well, and what Steve Smith will want, win or lose the toss, is to shut India out early in the first innings.
The spinners have done a brilliant job for the Aussies so far, but the visitors will miss the services of Mitchell Starc. What they will hope is that Pat Cummins steps in the left-armer's stead and deliveries. If he does, Australia will be in this game.
Getting some runs from David Warner will also be helpful, because if Australia can frustrate the India bowlers with a big opening partnership – Matt Renshaw has been one of the more impressive players in this series – they could march their way to a big total, with it piling the pressure back on the home team.
And as both Tests have showed, pressure is something no team wants to be in.
When to Watch Live
India vs Australia is set to begin at 9.30am IST, 4am GMT, 3pm AEDT, 8am GST.
TV and Live Streaming Information
India: TV: Star Sports 1, 3, HD1, HD3. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports 3 and 5. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 3. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
USA and Canada: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: OSN Cricket Live.
