india tour of australia 2022 cricbuzz

India tour of Australia: Dates, schedule and venues of the five-match Test series detailed

I ndia will tour Australia at the end of this year for five Tests, which will fall under the current cycle of the ICC Men's World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25. Cricket Australia announced the schedule of Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will commence on November 22 at Perth.

This is the first time in 33 years that India will play five Tests in Australia.

Mike Baird, Chair of CA, echoed the sentiments of Jay Shah and was excited for the summer.

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"We are very thrilled that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been extended to five Tests, considering the tremendous rivalry between our two great cricketing nations and the excitement this generates.

"The cricket world will be watching Australia, and I'm convinced Pat Cummins' World Champion squad will be able to overcome the quality and depth of the Indian team, which has played wonderfully to win the last two series here and reclaim the trophy.

"We appreciate the work with the BCCI, and I agree with Mr. Shah about the importance of Test cricket. We look forward to hosting their squad, officials, and supporters for what promises to be a fantastic series and a highlight of a busy summer of cricket."

India's last two tours of Australia (in 2018-19 and 2020-21) have been immensely successful, with the visitors winning both the series (four Tests each) with a 2-1 scoreline. 

India tour of Australia: Test schedule

The second Test, a pink-ball Test match, will take place at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. The Gabba, Brisbane, will host the third Test, while the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne will host the Boxing Day Test, as always.

The fifth and final Test will take place at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney. The significance of the Pink Test is to raise awareness for breast cancer. It is a tribute to Jane McGrath, wife of former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath, who succumbed to the illness. In response to this tragedy, Glenn McGrath established the McGrath Foundation in 2005, which collaborates with Cricket Australia to promote awareness and raise funds for patients and survivors.

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India v Australia: first Test, day one – as it happened

Ravindra Jadeja took five wickets as Australia stumbled to 177 all out with India making 77-1 by stumps in Nagpur

• 9 Feb 2023 India take control
• 9 Feb 2023 STUMPS: India close day one on 77-1 in response to Australia's 177
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! KL Rahul c&b Murphy 20 (India 76-1)
• 9 Feb 2023 Australia all out for 177
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Handscomb lbw b Jadeja 31 (Australia 176-9)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Murphy lbw b Jadeja 0 (Australia 173-8)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Cummins c Kohli b Ashwin 6 (Australia 172-7)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Carey b Ashwin 36 (Australia 162-6)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Smith bowled Jadeja 37 (Australia 109-5)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Renshaw lbw Jadeja 0 (Australia 84-4)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Labuschagne stumped Jadeja 49
• 9 Feb 2023 LUNCH: Australia 76-2 (Smith 19, Labuschagne 47)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Warner b Shami 1 (Australia 2-2)
• 9 Feb 2023 WICKET! Khawaja lbw Siraj 1 (Australia 2-1)
• 9 Feb 2023 Team news
• 9 Feb 2023 Australia win the toss and elect to bat first
• 9 Feb 2023 Todd Murphy handed Australian debut
• 9 Feb 2023 Preamble

India take control

The home side hold all the cards after day one of the first Test in Nagpur. The first day of the four match series could hardly have gone much better for the hosts, bar the loss of KL Rahul to Aussie debutant Todd Murphy an over before the close. They find themselves just 100 runs adrift with nine wickets in hand. The desiccated pitch doesn’t look likely to get easier to bat on, any sizeable first innings lead could well be crucial.

Australia were undone by both pace and spin, Shami and Siraj making early inroads to reduce the visitors to 2-2 before Ravindra Jadeja piped up to take five wickets on his return to Test cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin racked up his 450th (and 451st) Test wickets and Skipper Rohit Sharma looked in imperious form with the bat, scorching a chanceless fifty off just 66 balls. His Australian counterpart, Pat Cummins, was woefully out of sorts with his first efforts with the ball on what was a largely ponderous fielding display for the visitors.

The report from the ground has just landed and we’ll be back tomorrow to OBO day two. Thanks as ever for the emails and comments, goodbye!

Here’s that first Test scalp for Todd Murphy:

Todd: one out #INDvsAUS https://t.co/r1rSKF3Q6b — Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) February 9, 2023

STUMPS: India close day one on 77-1 in response to Australia's 177

Sharma survives a loud lbw appeal in the final over, Lyon on his knees imploring but to no avail. Where have we seen that before I wonder? (S orry, must remain impartial ) Sharma got himself outside the line and then off strike with a push into the leg side. Ashwin pats back the rest of the final over and day one of this Border-Gavaskar series is done, it belongs firmly to India.

WICKET! KL Rahul c&b Murphy 20 (India 76-1)

Todd Murphy gets the breakthrough and his first Test wicket! A ball that grips and turns forces Rahul into the error, a drive plinked back into the clutches of the bespectacled debutant! The Aussies swarm the tyro spinner and it’s hair tousles and back-slaps all round. A lovely moment for Murphy and an important one for his side, who desperately needed something in the wickets column.

22nd over: India 76-1 (Rohit 55, Ashwin 0)

21st over: India 74-0 (Rohit 55, KL Rahul 18) Shadows lengthen in Nagpur, we might get through another couple of overs before the close. Sharma pounces in the fading light, driving powerfully for three down the ground before sweeping elegantly for four to bring up a 66 ball fifty. A masterclass so far from ‘The Hitman’. Not content with that he drives the next ball from Lyon majestically through the gloaming for another boundary.

20th over: India 62-0 (Rohit 44, KL Rahul 17) Murphy is keeping a lid on things, bowling nicely if not looking particularly threatening. The TV coverage throws up a graphic showing that the Aussie spinners have spun the ball more than their counterparts. Yes, I’m scratching my head too.

20th over: India 60-0 (Rohit 43, KL Rahul 16) Weird. Just the one over for Cummins then as Lyon replaces him. Four overs for 27 from the Aussie skipper. Lyon sends down a maiden, the last ball of which is a pearler, skidding past a groping Rohit.

19th over: India 60-0 (Rohit 43, KL Rahul 16) Murphy plugs away, just a single. All a bit flat from an Aussie POV.

#RohitSharma showing wonderful touch, fine technique and deep resolve. Batting gloriously — Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) February 9, 2023

18th over: India 59-0 (Rohit 42, KL Rahul 16) Someone get Matty Hayden a snack, and Pat Cummins for that matter. After mentioning gravy earlier the big ‘Dos calls Cummins’ comeback over ‘buffet bowling’. He’s not wrong either. Very out of character for Cummins who serves up another easy half-volley to a lip-licking KL Rahul. He then finishes his over with an innocuous delivery shunted down the leg side that a sprawling Alex Carey does well to haul in.

17th over: India 55-0 (Rohit 42, KL Rahul 12) Murphy whirls away and there’s just a single off it. All a bit flat from Australia, they need to make something, anything happen here. As if on cue, Cummins brings himself back on.

16th over: India 54-0 (Rohit 42, KL Rahul 11) Lyon drags down and Rahul picks off the single to bring up the fifty partnership for the opening pair. Too easy. Lyon over compensates and goes too full, Rohit doesn’t miss out and steers the ball away for another four.

15th over: India 49-0 (Rohit 38, KL Rahul 10) KL Rahul punches a shorter ball from Murphy away for a couple and Rohit picks him off for a single off his pads. This has been assured stuff from India. Ominously so if you are an Aussie supporter. The pitch seems to be more benign, or rather the Aussie bowlers have made it look that way so far.

14th over: India 46-0 (Rohit 38, KL Rahul 7) Good contest between Lyon and Rohit. The spinner beats his man with a couple that grip off the surface and Rohit decides enough is enough, trotting out of his crease and smearing a length ball for six!

13th over: India 39-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 6) Todd Murphy continues after a slurp, he’s accomplished if unthreatening so far.

“Evening James/all, Gervase Greene here in Sydney, just around the corner from Pat Cummins’ very nice place. Further to Peter Salmon’s point (3rd over) on Travis Head’s non-selection, I can (maybe) understand not picking someone because he can’t play spin, or can’t play in India, or both. But if so, what’s he doing on a tour to India?”

12th over: India 38-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 5) Lyon keeps it tight with a maiden and that is drinks . Australia still searching for the breakthrough, no dramas yet for India.

11th over: India 38-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 5) Murphy has more than a whiff of Graeme Swann in his twirling action and he can be proud of his first few balls, landing them nicely and drawing KL Rahul forward on the defensive. And breathe, Todd. A couple of singles off it (and a front foot no-ball, but I’m being charitable).

Todd Murphy is coming on for his first bowl in Test cricket. What a moment for the youngster, his family have flown in to witness it too.

10th over: India 36-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 4) Lyon makes Rohit look uncomfortable for the first time, squaring him up and fizzing one past his edge.

9th over: India 35-0 (Rohit 31, KL Rahul 4) Rahul picks up an edgy two through the slips as Boland sends down another miserly over, he’s giving his captain some much needed control out there.

8th over: India 33-0 (Rohit 31, KL Rahul 2) Rohit is looking in dangerously good nick here, it is lovely for the neutral (ahem) but If I was Australia I’d already be starting to get the screaming abdabs . Lyon overpitches by a fraction and Rohit pounces, driving down the ground to collect four more.

Not a lot according to Rohit Sharma #INDvAUS https://t.co/UFcdCKgmcB — Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) February 9, 2023

7th over: India 27-0 (Rohit 26, KL Rahul 1) Boland repays the faith with a maiden.

Pat Cummins has gone for more runs in his first over at Nagpur than Scott Boland has conceded per wicket taken in his Test career — Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) February 9, 2023

Stats I guess.

6th over: India 27-0 (Rohit 26, KL Rahul 1) Lyon whirls away and KL gets off the mark with a push down the ground for one. Cummins has taken himself out of the attack and Boland is given another go. Big Pat’s opening three overs crunched for 23 runs.

5th over: India 26-0 (Rohit 26, KL Rahul 0) Pat Cummins is having a bit of a shocker here, he loses his line again, serves up a full half-volley and Rohit duly picks him off for an effortless boundary. Another leg side ball is flicked away for four, Cummins shakes his head and India fly to 26 for none, each and every run notched by India’s skipper.

4th over: India 16-0 (Rohit 15, KL Rahul 0) Boland is whipped out of the attack after just one over and here comes Nathan Lyon. A nice bit of drift and grip from the shiny pated ‘Gaz’. Sharma up to the task, he sweeps for a single.

3rd over: India 15-0 (Rohit 15, KL Rahul 0) Cummins find his metronome after that expensive first effort and sends down a maiden.

Peter Salmon emails in with the express intention of ruffling a few, err, scales.

“Jim, early call I know, but AUSTRALIA JUST LOST THE ASHES. Head was our best chance to counter Bazball, and the selectors have just wilfully scrambled his brain. Expect him back in the next Test, unable to play his natural game, and out for a string of low scores. Dropped by third Ashes Test, and Stokes holding the urn aloft. You read it here first.”

We did Peter, and I for one will definitely remember.*

*But maybe drop me a line at the end of July too?

The fantastically named Reverend Frinton Bojangles is in touch:

“As an England fan, have to acknowledge how good that was - 162-5 to 177 all out is world class…”

Very droll, Rev. Speaking of England, our man in Havana Hamilton, Ali Martin, has the latest from the men’s Test camp in New Zealand:

2nd over: India 15-0 (Rohit 15, KL Rahul 0) Scott Boland is sharing the new ball with his skipper, his first delivery is driven for two down the ground by Rohit but after that the miserly seamer sharpens up and shows his worth with five probing deliveries on off stump.

1st over: India 13-0 (Rohit 13, KL Rahul 0) Hold onto your stovepipes, India are off to a flyer. Cummins’ first ball flies off a half leave from Rohit and India get underway with a boundary off the first ball of their response. Nothing streaky about the next two though, Cummins strays onto Sharma’s pads and is flicked away nonchalantly for successive boundaries. Don’t bowl there Patty!

Okay doke, out come Rohit and KL Rahul for the India reply. Pat Cummins has a shiny new one in his mitts, play!

I think it was the carrom ball.

Why aren't these TV commentators rolling on the floor frothing about that ball from Ashwin to Boland. Somehow they're just calmly discussing the bowling figures and having thoughts about the pitch — Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) February 9, 2023

Australia all out for 177

Ashwin toys with Boland for a few balls before thudding one into his off stump. Tail duly mopped. That’s yer lot.

WICKET! Handscomb lbw b Jadeja 31 (Australia 176-9)

Jadeja has five on his return to Test cricket and the key wicket of Handscomb is snaffled. A missed sweep from the tall batter sees the ball scud into his pad slap bang in front of all three stumps. “Time for India to mop up the gravy” drawls Matthew Hayden on the tv commentary. Scott Boland, in his first overseas Test, is the Aussies’ last man. Ah Bisto .

63rd over: Australia 176-9 ( Lyon 1, Boland)

62nd over: Australia 176-8 (Handscomb 30, Lyon 1) It’s a mirror image of the last over, Ashwin keeps Handscomb honest with five dots before tossing one out wide that Handscomb dabs away for a single.

Classic two-card trick from @ashwinravi99 - you can see why he’s second fastest to 450 Test wickets # #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/61GBRaoi2V — simon hughes (@theanalyst) February 9, 2023

61st over: Australia 175-8 (Handscomb 30, Lyon 1) Jadeja into his work after the break. I spent the twenty minute interval being forced to put on every pair of shoes in the house by a very demanding twenty month old. Never has the word ‘slipper’ been uttered with such force. Jadeja ties down Handscomb but the batter manages to nurdle a single off the final ball to keep strike. Right, I need to find a quiet spot to concentrate out of sight of the footwear tyrant…

60th over: Australia 174-8 (Handscomb 28, Lyon 1) Nathan Lyon pads one away and jogs down the other end. Other than that it’s all quiet on the wicket and runs front. And that is tea. An absorbing session, I suspect both sides will feel they are in this game, with Handscomb still battling away for Australia. If he can get them north of 200 on this testing surface then you suspect they will be quietly happy, especially as they found themselves at 2-2 at the start of the day. Off to brew up, back soon!

Oh and do get in touch with your thoughts, theories and nonsense – fling me an email or find me on the twitters:

India v Australia: first Test, day one – live with @Jimbo_Cricket https://t.co/cNBXahC2fA — Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) February 9, 2023

WICKET! Murphy lbw b Jadeja 0 (Australia 173-8)

Oh no! A duck on dayboo for Murphy. Jadeja spears one into his pads and the fielders rise and holler. A confident cackle. The umpire raises the digit of doom, the DRS shows there was no edge and the ball would have taken out middle stump. Cricket can be a real pi***er eh?

59th over: Australia 173-8 (Handscomb 27, Lyon 0)

Out strolls the debutant Todd Murphy , can he survive the ten or so minutes till tea? I confess I’ve never seen him bat.

WICKET! Cummins c Kohli b Ashwin 6 (Australia 172-7)

Beauty! Ashwin gets one to straighten and Cummins pokes out at it, sharp catch by Kohli in the slips. The wickets keep a’tumblin after lunch for Australia. It’s a wicket-maiden for Ashwin, and his 451st Test wicket.

58th over: Australia 172-7 (Handscomb 27, Murphy 0)

57th over: Australia 172-6 (Handscomb 27, Cummins 6) Anything you can do… Jadeja hurtles through a maiden, that was something like 45 seconds. It felt quicker.

56th over: Australia 172-6 (Handscomb 27, Cummins 6) Ashwin rattles through a maiden, giving Jadeja a run for his moolah.

55th over: Australia 172-6 (Handscomb 27, Cummins 6) Jadeja, an OBO scribes favourite worst nightmare , comes back into the attack. He hums through his overs so rapidly it is hard to keep up. He beats Handscomb with a ripper that turns sharply off the straight and past the edge. Ooof! another one takes the glove and flies past slip. Over and out.

54th over: Australia 168-6 (Handscomb 23, Cummins 6) Pat Cummins strides out to the middle to join Handscomb and is off the mark with an outside edge that trickles away for four. Another guided defence brings the Aussie skipper two more. Every run feels crucial in this first dig.

That was Ashwin’s 450th Test wicket, mind-boggling numbers eh?

Among bowlers with 450 Test wickets, only Glenn McGrath and Muttiah Muralidaran have better averages, and only Murali has reached the milestone in fewer Tests. A true great of the game. #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/ejVbzr1XnA — Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 9, 2023

WICKET! Carey b Ashwin 36 (Australia 162-6)

Goddim! Carey tries to reverse-sweep Ashwin but gets and under edge onto his poles and has to drag himself off. An enterprising knock comes to and end. Ashwin does some hearty fist pumping, can India skittle Australia for less than 200 here?

53rd over: Australia 162-5 (Carey 36, Handscomb 23) Carey continues to plunder runs, Siraj does indeed steam in, replacing Ashwin, his first ball flies off a meaty edge down to the point boundary. Another four! Next ball is guided more stylishly by Carey. That’s the fifty partnership between Carey and Handscomb, the former has been the aggressor, it’s turning into a worrisome partnership for the home side.

52nd over: Australia 153-5 (Carey 27, Handscomb 23) The partnership builds towards fifty, Axar Patel replaces Siraj who I suspect will come back from the other end. Carey is playing a gem of an innings, he sweeps the tall spinner away for four and Australia’s 150 is up. It’s come at a decent lick after lunch too. Some of the Indian fielders get their teapot on, hands on hips in the afternoon sun.

51st over: Australia 148-5 (Carey 22, Handscomb 23) These two batters are doing well to tick over and frustrate the Indian bowlers. Handscomb scampers two down the ground. Ashwin varies his flight, cogs whirring all the time, two more singles. Cat and mouse…

50th over: Australia 144-5 (Carey 21, Handscomb 20) Thanks Angus, top stint that. Hello OBO, greetings from a frosty south London where I’m perched on my sofa just 4,625 miles (give or take) from the action in Nagpur. Straight down to brass tacks then, Siraj is bustling in and Alex Carey greets him with a doozy of a square cover drive for four. Siraj throws up his arms in frustration but it was a fine shot. The bowler switches to around the wicket but serves up a juicy full one and Carey leans on it for four more. Handy over for Australia.

49th over: Australia 136-5 (Carey 12, Handscomb 20) Ashwin wheels in to Carey. All the Indian spinners pose different challenges and Australia are working hard to foil each bag of tricks thrown at them in a new way. This pair are doing well to remain moving targets, rotating the strike and sending the odd ball to the rope. We are at the 50 over mark so it’s my turn to rotate the strike to my colleague James Wallace. Go well, comrades in cricket!

48th over: Australia 135-5 (Carey 12, Handscomb 20) “ Catchit!” is the cry but Jadeja’s first ball of his 17th over has ballooned off the pad, past leg slip and to the rope for four leg byes. Carey strolls a single from the next and Handscomb blocks out the rest of the over.

47th over: Australia 130-5 (Carey 11, Handscomb 20) Australia fighting back. Alex Carey has raced to 10 off seven deliveries and Peter Handscomb has 20 from 33, by far the best strike rates of the Australia innings so far. Ravi Ashwin will want to stick his spinning finger in this geyser of runs but he is wicketless from his eight overs thus far and he doesn’t trouble Carey here.

46th over: Australia 129-5 (Carey 10, Handscomb 20) Nice shot Alex Carey! The 31-year-old from Loxton, a foundation captain of the GWS Giants before he defected to cricket, looks utterly unfazed by the mountain he has to climb here. He bangs a boundary and then sets off for an easy single, calm as you like. In Handscomb Carey has a good character to dig in with, a fact proven when he steps back and taps Jadeja’s fourth ball behind square for another boundary. Australia were slow off the canvas after lunch but they are clamouring back into the contest now.

45th over: Australia 120-5 (Carey 5, Handscomb 16) Alex Carey clobbered a four from the first ball he faced and his feet are moving fast behind a steady head. Safe to say he came of age in the Australian summer, with that wonderful century against South Africa. Carey’s middle name is Tyson and he’ll need all the fighting qualities of “Iron Mike” to stop Australia’s slide into the abyss.

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The curious case of Mumbai Indians' overseas combination

On a balmy evening in Mumbai, Trent Boult made early incisions in Mumbai Indians' batting lineup as he so often does to opposition top orders. Dewald Brevis walked in at 1/2 as MI activated their Impact Sub option as early as the end of the first over of their innings - the earliest any team has done it since the inception of the rule last year. This was MI fielding their classic 2-2 overseas combination from their heydays of 2013-20: a top order batter (Dewald Brevis), a finisher (Tim David), a left-arm seamer (Luke Wood/Kwena Maphaka) and another seamer (Gerald Coetzee). Suryakumar Yadav's absence at the start of the season meant MI needed to supplement their batting lineup and therefore the 2-2 overseas combination made sense.

On paper, the Impact Player should widen the depth across both batting and bowling disciplines, but it has not gone that way in practice. The expansion to ten teams from eight has meant 80 domestic players are required to spread across ten franchises as compared to 56 among the original eight. The domestic bowling talent pool being shallower compared to the batting counterparts has meant bowling quality has dipped drastically. This coupled with the extra cushion offered by Impact Player has resulted in scoring rates soar since the start of IPL 2023.

With this scenario in the background, MI boasted of a top order populated by the cream of India's national T20 team: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tilka Varma and Hardik Pandya. This has provided them with the rare luxury to play three overseas bowlers in their starting XI which few other sides could afford to do. It seemed MI would go that way at the start of the season given their overseas composition spread across the extended squad: they have had just two specialist overseas batters which was the fewest among the ten teams. MI were the worst bowling side of the competition last season and it seemed they cracked a solution to address the problem.

However, things took a different turn once Suryakumar came into the XII in their fourth game. MI opted for a different overseas combination, dropping Brevis and Maphaka and bringing in two all-rounders in the form of Romario Shepherd, a hard hitting lower order batter with a propensity to leak runs with the ball, and Mohammad Nabi, a spin basher on his day, and a useful matchup off spinner. This change in combination meant MI had someone with Coetzee's ball striking ability coming out to bat at #9 - the extra batter's presence should not only lengthen the batting but also free up top order batters to bat more freely - and having as many as seven frontline bowling options.

It has not exactly translated as MI thought it would, though they have had the rub of the green with the results having won three of their last four games. Between them, Shepherd and Nabi have faced 22 balls across four games they've featured together in and bar the former's onslaught of Anrich Nortje in a 10-ball cameo of 32 runs, the pair has done precious little with the bat. Despite the batting depth, MI failed to chase down 206 against a CSK attack without Deepak Chahar and Mahesh Theekshana and were two hits way from suffering the same fate in Mullanpur before PBKS ran out of ammunition.

Shepherd - Nabi in IPL 2024

With the ball though, it has been a slightly different story with the duo averaging four overs per game across the four matches they've featured together in. But it has come at a cost. 16 overs from Shepherd and Nabi have cost MI 172 runs - a rate of 10.75 per over with a solitary wicket to show for. The reason for skipper Hardik Pandya deploying four overs of them on average has been to cover up another massive chink in their armor: the spin attack. MI are at the bottom of the charts for spinners at the halfway mark of the season and their premier leg spinner has not completed their quota of four overs in any games bar one (Shreyas Gopal against RCB).

The expansion to ten teams has diluted the strength of bowling attacks, especially spin attacks in the last three editions. MI entered the mega auction 2022 with almost 47% of their purse spent on four retentions of which Jasprit Bumrah was the only bowler. They spent another INR 23.25 crores towards availing the services of Ishan Kishan and an injury prone Jofra Archer, who eventually played five matches for MI across two seasons. With nearly 75% of their purse spent on six players, it would ultimately leave one of their bases exposed, which turned out to be the spin department. MI ended up at the bottom of the pile in IPL 2022 and just about had their neck above the water last season thanks to Piyush Chawla. This year, they have been once again the poorest among all spin attacks.

Spin attacks in IPL 2024

MI spinners in IPL 2024

MI were among the worst attacks in IPL 2023 and despite Jasprit Bumrah's return and the kind of season he is in the middle of, MI's fortunes as bowling unit have more or less remained there and thereabouts due to the lack of support for Bumrah. The five-time champs would be better served having another specialist seamer Nuwan Thushara in their XI in place of one of their all-rounders, who in turn can be picked depending on conditions and opposition matchups. Thushara, of the same mold as Lasith Malinga and Matheesha Pathirana with a slingy round arm action, has previously represented the MI franchise in SA20 earlier in the year and was among the few that extracted most sideways movement with the new ball in the competition.

Thushara's inclusion in the starting XI would mean MI tweaking the balance of their XII a touch. They will still have seven frontline bowling options to pick from and should they prefer to balance the side weighing towards additional batting depth with skipper Hardik Pandya as the sixth bowler they can do so by bringing in Nehal Wadhera, who impressed in maiden season for MI last season and followed it up with a good SMAT with Punjab, in place of either Akash Madhwal (whose is going at 11.28 per over) or the wrist spinner.

Nuwan Thushara in franchise T20 leagues & Internationals

Thushara has played 87 T20s across his eight year-old career. This includes a couple of T20 Internationals in Australia and the recently concluded SA20 and the IPL will be a big jump in standards he is used to. Thushara's inclusion might not prove to be a magic wand that miraculously heals MI of all their miseries, but it would at least allow them to deploy their bowlers in the most optimal way possible. Coetzee, a hard lengths enforcer in the middle and death overs, has often been tasked with the job of taking the new ball which he has sprayed around often. On helpful conditions in Mullanpur in their previous game, MI frontloaded Bumrah's overs and with his spell concluding by the end of 17th over meant skipper Hardik had to scramble for lesser options to cover the backend.

The inclusion of Impact Player and its effect in Indian cricket has garnered flak from the national team captain as well as some experts. While it has definitely helped some of the sides to cover inefficiencies in their batting side, it has not quite had the same effect in the bowling side of things as evidenced at Mumbai Indians. They sit at a precarious 3-4 win-loss record at the halfway stage of the tournament and how they address the gaping holes in their bowling attack as they march forward will be an interesting watch.

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