India v Australia 2nd Test betting tips – Delhi, Feb 17-21

Australia have a few questions to answer ahead of the second Test of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, kicking off in Delhi this Friday.

The visitors were embarrassed in the opening match in Nagpur, going down by an innings and 132 runs after compiling a mere 268 across their two innings.

The Australian selectors are in the spotlight after dropping the in-form Travis Head in favour of Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb, neither of whom made an impact in the first Test.

Renshaw faced a grand total of eight deliveries across his two hits, while Handscomb’s battling 31 in the first dig was rather undone by his cheap dismissal for six in the second.

Of particular concern is how many Australian batters were out leg-before-wicket — 10 in total, with Ravichandran Ashwin alone claiming four of those in the second innings.

Then there is the issue of David Warner, whose Test career is on the line after yet another uninspiring performance that highlighted his susceptibility to round-the-wicket seam bowling.

There is some chatter that the selectors could kill two birds with one stone by replacing Warner with Head, who has plenty of experience opening the batting in the Sheffield Shield and short-form cricket.

However, it remains to be seen how many changes the selectors will make to the batting order given the concerns that must be addressed elsewhere.

For there is also the matter of a bowling attack that looked toothless but for debutant spinner Todd Murphy, who took seven wickets as India romped to 400 after Australia had managed only 177 in their first innings.

Scott Boland was tidy but unthreatening, and even the ever-reliable Pat Cummins appeared tame on a pitch that offered little for hit-the-deck seamers.

Boland is expected to drop out of the lineup this week, although exactly who will replace him is yet to be determined.

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Mitchell Starc has arrived on the subcontinent and is back bowling in the nets, but it is unlikely he will be declared fit before Friday.

With Josh Hazlewood battling an Achilles injury, it could pave the way for West Australian speedster Lance Morris to make his Test debut.

Another potential inclusion is up-and-coming allrounder Cameron Green, who has been cleared to bowl after some time off injured and could replace either Handscomb or Renshaw in the middle order.

Left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann has been flown over to join the squad, so there is also the possibility of the Aussies opting for three specialist tweakers in Delhi.

For the hosts, it will be a case of maintaining the status quo after a typically dominant performance on their own patch.

Rohit Sharma set the tone with a classy 120 at the top of the order, while the trio of spin-bowling allrounders — Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel — ground the tourists into the dirt with bat and ball.

That the likes of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav did little in that match should give Australian fans no comfort whatsoever.

India v Australia predictions & picks – Second Test

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