Tim Paine wins toss to avoid unwanted 136-year first
Tim Paine has won the toss in Perth to end his long drought and avoid an unwanted 136-year first.
The Australian captain elected to bat against India on Friday as 38-degree temperatures loom for Optus Stadium’s maiden Test.
Paine, who said on Thursday he was somewhat conflicted about whether to bat or bowl, is backing his inexperienced top order to survive a challenging start to the second Test.
“It’s obviously really warm today. This wicket … with some hot weather around we expect it’ll crack up and be hard work (later in the game),” Paine said at the toss.
“We’re happy to be batting first. There’s been some heat on a few guys but that’s always going to happen.
“We’re going to back our boys, we’re trying to create an environment where it’s a bit more stable.”
In winning the toss after Virat Kohli called heads and the coin landed on tails, Paine was able to make a call for the first time in his stint as Australia’s 46th Test skipper.
He lost the tosses in the last Test in South Africa after the ball-tampering saga, the two Tests against Pakistan in the UAE and to Kohli last week in Adelaide.
The only Australian Test captain to lose his first five tosses was the nation’s second ever skipper – Billy Murdoch in 1882, 136 years ago.
Paine’s win also means Rony Stanyforth continues to stand alone in Test history.
Stanyforth captained England in his only four Tests – a tour of South Africa in 1927-28 – and loss the toss all four times.
Meanwhile, Kohli admitted he was also keen to bat first.
He confirmed veteran quick Umesh Yadav and all-rounder Hanuma Vihari have replaced injured batsman Rohit Sharma and star offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin in India’s XI.
“It’s not a bad thing to bowl. The pitch has a lot of grass on it,” Kohli said.
“I’ve seen a one-day game here and it had quite a bit for the bowlers, so we’re pretty excited about that.”
Paine announced an unchanged side on match eve, noting there would also be no change to the batting order.
India lead Australia 1-0 in the four-match Test series and will retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy if they win in Perth.
Australia XI: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (capt), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
India XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Shama, Jasprit Bumrah.
with AAP
