Spin strategies take centre stage
Match facts
March 2-6, HyderabadStart time 9.30am (0400GMT)
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The clinical victory in Chennai marked a job well begun by India, but MS Dhoni's side won't be too thrilled yet, having lost the previous series against England despite taking a 1-0 lead. England's fortunes turned with the inclusion of the extra spinner in Monty Panesar for the second Test in Mumbai, and Australia's team management have also been pondering whether to switch to a two-spinner policy, which has historically not worked too well for them in India.
What could prompt Australia to stick to their pace-heavy line-up will be that left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty's Test credentials aren't in the same league as Panesar 's, evidenced by an unflattering first-class average of 44.56.
India, too, have been wondering about an additional tweaker, though in their case it will expand their spin trio to a quartet. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, was perhaps India's best bowler in the series defeat to England but was surprisingly left out in the first Test. India's quicks had little to do in Chennai, and Ojha could take one of their places.
Though Ojha is the latest in a long line of Hyderabad players to have played Tests for India, the city has not been a traditional venue for Test cricket, having only hosted three matches till 2009. Tests returned to Hyderabad in 2010 at the new Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, and the Australia match will be the third in Hyderabad in three years. It is the only Indian stadium to get two Tests this season, benefitting after the Australians complained about the facilities in the original host city, Kanpur. Briefly there were concerns that the match might be moved out of Hyderabad as well, after powerful bomb blasts hit the city just over a week ago. Security has been tightened before the match, with two units of an elite anti-terror squad deployed, and 60 CCTVs being used to monitor the stadium and surroundings.
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