Jaipur wicket to work in Aussies’ favour

Australia will call on insider knowledge ahead of their second one-day fixture against India, with the match to be a home game for Rajasthan Royals pair Shane Watson and James Faulkner.

A tinge of green on the wicket, which has a reputation for producing seamer-friendly decks, is also sure to excite Australia’s fast bowling corps ahead of Wednesday’s clash in Jaipur.

Watson has played six Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons with Rajasthan, while Faulkner joined him this year, and both contributed to push the franchise into the final of the Champions League T20 this month.

By contrast, none of the Indian squad call Jaipur home during the IPL season.

Watson and Faulkner also made use of the nighttime conditions, which bring a covering of dew across the ground, as Australia claimed a 72-run victory in the opening clash in Pune.

Faulkner finished with three wickets, while Watson bagged 2-31 including the valuable wicket of Virat Kohli.

But the vital Indian batsman does not accept that their history with the ground, or the bouncy pitch, will give Australia the upper hand.

“I don’t think (it’s an advantage),” Kohli said on Tuesday.

“They’ve played Twenty20 cricket here.

“But they haven’t played a lot of 50-over cricket which is a different ball game altogether.

“…Obviously they’re going to have a fair idea of this wicket, how to play on it and how to bowl on it.

“But we’ve played more on this wicket as far as the one-day format is concerned.

“So I think we should take all that experience into account and try to bend that towards our team and to our advantage.

“Hopefully we can extract the conditions better than they can.”

Despite Australia’s dominant bowling performance in Pune being built around their fast bowlers, Kohli said the grassy pitch would favour both sides.

“I think it should be equal for both the teams,” Kohli said.

“Any team that plays on this wicket, we always know in Jaipur that you need to bat well (and) back your strengths.”

India’s premier quick, Ishant Sharma, was punished by Aaron Finch and Phil Hughes in game one to finish with an expensive 1-56 off seven overs.

He spent a long time in the nets on Tuesday as he fights to keep his place in the side.

India’s spin ace Ravi Ashwin sat out the team’s final practice, but is in no danger of missing the game with Kohli saying all players were available for selection.

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