PERTH – Australia and India are considering an unusual four-pronged pace attack for the third Test but won't settle on their final line-up until just before the match at Perth's WACA Ground, starting on Friday (today).
Both teams are considering playing four fast bowlers in the match, with the WACA pitch still boasting a healthy covering of grass and a distinctive green tinge. with curator Cam Sutherland predicting the wicket would have more pace and bounce than the corresponding Test against England last year, when seam bowlers dominated and just two of 40 wickets fell to spin.
With the luxury of a 2-0 series lead after emphatic wins in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia captain Michael Clarke said he was considering going for broke against the Indians, not only by using four seamers, but by bowling first if he wins the toss.
"I really find it hard to bowl first if I win the toss no matter what the conditions are like," he said. "And I find it really hard to leave a spinner out of my team no matter what conditions are like. But in saying that you need to do whatever is best to win the game. The conditions are obviously going to suit fast bowling, especially on day one.
"I need to assess conditions and make a couple of very smart decisions." Like the Indians, Clarke said the home side would not settle on their final 11 until a final look at the pitch on the morning of the match.
He hinted that paceman Ryan Harris was certain to return, to replace the injured James Pattinson, leaving spinner Nathan Lyon and young left-arm quick Mitchell Starc vying for the final spot in the team.
He said the return of Harris, who took nine wickets against England at the venue last summer, would ably compensate for Pattinson's absence with a foot injury. "I really need to assess the conditions before we make a decision on our 11th player," he said.
"We are without James, but we get Ryan Harris back and he is as good a fast bowler as I have played with and has had a lot of success. I'm really confident our attack, whether we go with three or four quicks, can get the job done." Down 2-0 in the four-Test series after, India are already certain to lose second spot in the ICC Test rankings, but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said they were desperate to avoid a repeat of last year's 4-0 whitewash in England.
Their desperation has them considering the unusual move of playing four pacemen and Dhoni, who normally doesn't take great stock in pitch conditions, said they would reserve their final decision until they inspect the strip just before the match.
"A lot depends on how it looks before the start of the game," Dhoni said of the pitch, hinting that spinner Ravi Ashwin could miss the match. "It will affect us to some extent, especially in the bowling department. We have to see how much grass is taken off and how much rolling is done and how hard the wicket is. We have to see whether the spinner will get some kind of assistance or not," he said. "Our bowling will be structured depending on the wicket."
If India go for an all-pace attack, the obvious replacement for Ashwin is 27-year-old medium-pacer Vinay Kumar, who would be making his Test debut, but has played 15 one-day internationals. Unfortunately for India, Ashwin has been their second most productive batsman in the series, his 143 runs at 35.75 behind only Sachin Tendulkar.
Dhoni, who said he would consider his own playing future at the end of 2013, again dismissed talk of a rift in the Indian side as purely media speculation. "I have never seen the Indian team fight," he said. "And this is one thing we are really proud of. Our real strength is that we love each other and enjoy each other's successes. I am really proud of our dressing room atmosphere."