Injury from Australians’ insult with star under clouds during second Test as India goes from strength to strength

The ill Mitch Marsh will be eased into the second Test against India in Adelaide as Australia tries to bounce back from its series-opening collapse in Perth.

India topped the five-Test Border-Gavaskar series 1-0, thrashing Australia by 295 runs in four days at the Perth Stadium.

Test captain Pat Cummins has hinted that Australia are likely to keep the same squad for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide despite their dismal performance in Perth.

Marnus Labuschagne is under the most pressure after scoring two off 52 balls in the first innings and then hitting three in the second.

Debutant Nathan McSweeney (10, 0), Usman Khawaja (eight, four) and Steve Smith (0, 17) are others desperate to make it big.

Marsh has barely played this year due to a string of setbacks, but he bowled 17 overs in two innings in Perth.

The 33-year-old took 2-12 from five overs in India’s first innings and then toiled for 1-65 from 12 in the second innings as the visitors posted 6-487.

Marsh then scored 47 from 67 balls on Monday to take Australia’s total to 238.

With Cameron Green (spinner) out for the summer, Marsh’s bowling is crucial for Australia as the hosts try to lighten the load on quicks Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Marsh was injured after the Perth Test but at least has a 10-day break ahead of the day-night clash in Adelaide.

Cummins hopes Marsh will be able to play in every Test match he plays this summer, but his body will be closely monitored in the lead-up to Adelaide.

“He (struggling) with a couple of minor problems after the UK tour,” Cummins said.

“So the main thing is that he is one of the top six batters in the country and his bowling is a bonus.

“Towards the end of that Test match he was a little upset.

“The next 10 days will be your chance to refresh yourself and try to get things right. Let’s see how he goes. Ideally he could play in every Test match.”

Australia last won the Border-Gavaskar series in 2014-15 while India had held the trophy since 2017.

India are set to beat Australia at home for the third series in a row.

The last time Australia recovered from a 1-0 deficit to come back to win a Test series was the Ashes in England in 1997.

With the Perth Test match ending in four days, Cummins said the team was likely to arrive in Adelaide a day earlier than originally planned.

Cummins is confident his team will adapt quickly to the pink ball.

“There’s no doubt that batters will want at least one hit in the day and night,” Cummins said.

“It’s the same with playing on the field – we catch a few balls under the lights and do some training throughout the day.

“It’s just a little different to perceive with the eye. The bowler feels a little different.

“But one or two practices, we played a lot with pink balls, so it’s not that big of an adjustment for us.”

For the Indians, the fierce and quick Jasprit Bumrah had no problem handing back the captaincy to Rohit Sharma despite leading India to their most convincing Test win on Australian soil.

India are in the box seat to win their fifth straight Border-Gavaskar series after winning 1-0 in their 295-run massacre of Australia in Perth.

With Rohit staying in India after the birth of his second child, Bumrah easily captained his country in the first match of the series against Cummins in a rare battle of superstar fast bowlers.

The 30-year-old Bumrah was named man of the match after dismantling Australia with game figures of 8-72.

Rohit arrived in Australia on Sunday and walked straight through the gates at Optus Stadium on Monday ahead of the second Test at Adelaide Oval, which begins on December 6.

“He is the captain of our team and he has done a phenomenal job,” Bumrah said of Rohit.

“I was replacing him, so when he was in India, I was still in discussions, discussing how we were developing.

“I’m going to help him in any way I can.”

Rohit will return as an opener to partner prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a stunning 161 in the second innings.

This means that K.L. Rahul, who replaced Rohit at the top of the order, will have to move further down the order despite impressing in both innings in Perth with 26 and 77.

Number three Shubman Gill is still recovering from a finger injury and will be automatically included in Adelaide’s squad if he is fit.

If Gill plays instead of Devdutt Padikkal, then Rahul will drop to number six in place of Dhruv Jurel.

India produced their most dramatic turnaround by demolishing Australia, and the dominant performance came just three weeks after New Zealand delivered a historic 3-0 win at home.

The tourists arrived in Australia under intense pressure and scrutiny but silenced their doubters with some flawless cricket from after tea on the opening day until the end of the third day.

“Almost as good as you would want,” Bumrah said.

“(Sunday) was great.

“We wanted to go bowling in the evening. We wanted two wickets but got more. We couldn’t ask for more.”

Bumrah, however, denied that India had caused any psychological damage to Australia with their performance.

© AAP