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I would have thought that Head and Marsh would have benefited from having a hit in a shield game this weekend. Big ask to face up to Bumrah and Co on a spicy Perth pitch at the best of times. Wouldn't be expecting too much from either of them

With the rain around this week, the pitch preparation may be affected. As it is, both teams seem to have strong bowling attacks and rather shaky batting line ups so it could be a low scoring game. One unusual aspect of the match is that 2 fast bowlers will captain their respective sides. With Rohit Sharma missing, Bumrah will captain India. Shami is a big loss for India so I reckon the Aussies might have the edge in Perth as long as one or two of the batsmen can dig in and make 50 + scores. I reckon 300 will be a good score at Optus.

Looking forward to seeing the young Indian bats in Jaiswal who looks an exciting type at the top of the order and of course Pant who smashes our bowling all over the park down here.
If Rohit Sharma & Shubman Gill both dont play in the 1st Test I wonder who their respective replacements will be in the top 3?

Good start by the Aussies.Day 1 ,first session.

Good start by the Indians in session 3 mate.....Bumrah doing what the Aussie quicks did......only better. This test could be over in 3 days....battle of the bowlers it seems.

Yes the way its going it looks like India will be batting again before lunch on day 3, as has been raised before the whole aussie top order is a shambles

7 for 67 flatters Australia really - could very well have been all out before stumps 
the rains obviously cooked things up but it doesn't bode well already

What a train wreck. India showed a bit of character to scrap their way to 150 which may well see them get a 50 run lead which will be a match winning one on this wicket which is frankly an absolute disgrace. 
The Australian top and middle order just didnt have the technique to cope with Bumrah on that pitch. leave McSweeny out because its his first test but Khawaja, Smith and Marnus had no clue. Head and Marsh were coming off no cricket in about a month. No surprise that they succumbed. Perth risks losing its test status if they cannot find a curator that can produce better than that steaming pile of shit.
I am going tomorrow and its not out of the question that the game could be done by 6pm, otherwise early on day 3. And we have the audacity to criticise Indian pitches

Nothing wrong with the pitch for mine Mike.
It has good pace and bounce, a bit of sideways movement but nothing extravagant.
It is just a combination of good fast bowling and pathetic inept Australian batting which has been posted on here for years but nothing is ever done about them.
The clown coach and his dopey selector mate are too worried about upsetting a few egos and not making the changes that should have been made a year ago.
Khawaja, Labuschagne & Smith are all done at Test level like Warner was but they can continue on for as long as they like as no one is going to drop them out of fear of upsetting Pats Posse!

Wow what an Indian fightback.
Some small cracks in the wicket.
But fantastic bowling all day