Terrible Aussie batting, flat pitch, sledging... Six things to look out for in the final Australia v India Test

Going into the fourth and final Test, India lead the series 2-1 and have ensured that they cannot lose. Never fear, The Cricketer has brought together six things which prove that there is still a lot to play for at Sydney...

With their 137-run victory in the third match at Melbourne, India have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as they can no longer lose the Test series. The contest is, however, by no means over. India have never won a Test series in Australia, and all they need to do is avoid defeat at Sydney to finally do it.

Kohli's India are a side that likes to win though, and there are not too many draws in cricket anyway. Australia can save the series if they manage to bounce back from the battering they got at Melbourne so, as they saying goes, "it's all to play for".

In case you had forgotten, or maybe you haven't been paying attention, The Cricketer has brought together six things worth looking out for in the fourth and final Test.

Australia’s fragile batting

The fact that not a single Australian player has scored a century so far in this Test series is indicative as to how poor their batting has been, or maybe how good India’s bowling has been (particularly Jasprit Bumrah).

Justin Langer only recently said there wasn’t a huge amount that could be done about this as there is no one "absolutely banging down the door" and so it is unlikely there will be huge changes. In fact, if they include jack-of-all-trades Marnus Labuschagne instead of an out-and-out batsman their batting may be even weaker than before.

^{Aaron Finch observes the remains of his stumps after Ishant Sharma finished with them}

Will Kohli go for the kill?

To win the series India only need to draw the match. However, if Virat Kohli’s admission before the third Test at Melbourne that the entire India team “is obsessed with winning” is anything to go by, then we could see Virat and his team try to put daylight between them and their hosts.

The pace at which India have been batting throughout the series shows they certainly have the mindset to play out the draw. Hell, the way Pujara has been batting you feel he could stay out there for all five days. One issue facing the possibility of a draw, however, is that it will require the Australians to start batting well. Or it could rain.

How will the wicket play?

Let’s be straight about this, the pitch at Melbourne was at best ordinary. This is not the first time this had happened at the MCG, and it brought back all the same grumbles about drop-in pitches that were heard after the last Boxing Day Test against England.

This pitch, against the backdrop of the very fun wicket at Perth’s Optus Stadium (also a drop-in wicket), has brought renewed focus on the track being prepared at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The signals have been… mixed.

Both of the Sheffield Shield matches played at the ground this season have been drawn, with ten wickets being taken in only one of the seven innings. Ground Manager Justin Groves has predicted however that it is going to be a “very traditional SCG pitch”, which is likely to turn by the end of the Test.

Let’s hope that tradition does not include 2017 when it was voted by state captains and match referees as the worst first-class venue in Australia – yikes.

^{The Melbourne pitch did not impress a huge number of viewers}

Only one spinner for India?

Bearing in mind the apparent likelihood of spin on the final day of the Test, there is a possibility that India may include Ravi Ashwin, despite him being injured, or even mystery spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

Ashwin missed both the second and third Tests because of a groin strain he suffered in the first Test, but has been included in India’s 13-man shortlist for the fourth Test, along with Yadav

Jadeja proved a very capable frontline spinner at Melbourne and Yadav is yet to feature in the series so far, so a lot is on Ashwin’s fitness.

A renewal of the battle of wits…

Narratives. An awfully pretentious concept when applied to what is ultimately just a game, but we will give some time to it anyway. This series has just had narratives galore – Kohli v Paine, MCG v Mitchell Marsh, MCG v Good Taste, Warne v Starc, Shaun Marsh v Shaun Marsh. There just have been so many battles, but the best of the best has to be Paine v Pant.

The whole thing started when Rishabh Pant posed the brain-teaser at the Melbourne Test as to whether his teammates had ever heard of a “temporary captain”. Paine responded later in the match by trying to recruit Pant as a babysitter. There was no swearing thankfully, and it all ended in smiles after Tim Paine’s wife Bonnie posted an image on Instagram of Pant with their children.

All will be excited to hear what witticisms these gloved giants of wordplay can come out with during the final Test…

Tim Paine to @RishabPant777 at Boxing Day Test: "You babysit? I'll take the wife to the movies one night, you'll look after the kids?"

*Challenge accepted!* 👶

(📸 Mrs Bonnie Paine) pic.twitter.com/QkMg4DCyDT

— ICC (@ICC) January 1, 2019

An actually alive Test at Sydney

Talk to many cricket fans in Sydney, and they will admit that they were a little, just a little, pleased to see Australia lose the third Test against India. Why? Well, the Sydney Cricket Ground has not hosted an alive Test since the visit of England all the way back in 2011. In that time, they have hosted seven dead rubbers.

Obviously, they would have preferred the Melbourne Test to have been drawn to leave Australia the chance of winning the series at Sydney, but they will have to take what they can get.

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