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Though Australian Test captain Pat Cummins refused to reveal the playing XI for the first Test against India in Nagpur, which begins on February 9, reports have indicated that batter Peter Handscomb is in line for a recall while spinner Todd Murphy will make his Test debut tomorrow.

The ground staff at the VCA Stadium were seen carefully curating the pitch two days before the start of the match, including doing selective watering of the surface. They watered the middle of the pitch and the areas outside the right-handers’ off stump at one end but left those on a good length outside the left-handers’ off stump at both ends dry.

Talking about the batting lineup, Pat Cummins ruled out Cameron Green from the Nagpur Test and Australia are already missing the services of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc for the opening Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.

Matt Renshaw had played in place of Green in the third Test against South Africa, but his playing in Nagpur as well will mean five left-hand batters in the top seven dealing with the Nagpur pitch. While Cummins did not explicitly say that put Handscomb ahead in the pecking order, the chances of his recall seem to be increasing.

“I think it is a factor over here. With so much traffic from the right-handers bowling, at times there is a bit more out there for the left-handers. The Indian line-up is going to be packed full of right-handers, so I think it plays a small factor,” Cummins was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“I Think He’d Be As Prepared As He Could Be,” Pat Cummins On Todd Murphy

Australia are set to play a four-man bowling attack with Cummins and Scott Boland to play as the two quicks, while Nathan Lyon will be their lead spinner. That means Australia will have to choose from left-arm spinner Ashton Agar and offspinner Todd Murphy.

However Cummins backed Todd Murphy to come good and said: “I think he’d be as prepared as he could be. He’s been bowling beautifully in the nets over here. He’s started really well for Victoria in first-class cricket. If he got the nod, he’s got Nathan Lyon down the other end that he can work with; he’s ready. Everyone in the squad here has had really good preparation. Whoever we pick is 100% ready to go.”

“You’ve seen Nath be really, really effective over here [with] a lot of bat-pad, leg-slip catches for the right-handers. So ideally, you’ve got variety in any attack, but I don’t think it has to be the case just for that sake,” he added.

He also said that Australia will bat first if he wins the toss on this Nagpur pitch.

“I think when the conditions spin from day one, it’s actually not. I think you’ve seen India’s record. They win just as many games batting second as they do batting first. I think it can be overstated when the conditions do spin really quickly,” he signed off.