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#INDvAUS: India, Australia may hit reverse gear

With spotlight on spin, both hosts and visitors might also unleash a lesser talked about weapon — reverse swing

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Australia’s Mitchell Starc (right) and India’s Umesh Yadav (left) are expected to make their reverse swing count
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Turn. Bounce. Flight. Revs. Rough. Cracks.

These are some words being thrown around in the build-up to the India-Australia four-match series starting in Pune on Thursday. But there's another term that will play a massive role in the outcome of this much-anticipated battle: reverse swing.

Spin takes centrestage in any Test encounter on Indian conditions, more so since the South Africa series in 2015 after which pitches have been often as talked about as the performances of players.

But perhaps since the start of the Indian home season that comprised New Zealand, England and Bangladesh, the Australian challenge will bring out the reverse swing dimension more than any of the three previous teams.

That's purely due to the fast bowlers on showcase in this series.

Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Umesh Yadav are probably three of the best components of reverse swing in world cricket at the moment, and each of them possesses unique skills.

Let's talk about the visitors first.

It's no secret that the Aussie spinners are nowhere close to their Indian counterparts in terms of quality, experience and wicket-taking abilities. And thus the reverse swing factor becomes doubly important for them.

Starc proved the same the last time Australia toured the sub-continent, a 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka in 2016. But the left-arm pacer was absolutely lethal in that series, picking up 24 wickets in three Test matches with three five-wicket hauls. He was quick, accurate and at his reverse-swinging best.

Hazlewood might not swing it as much as his fast bowling colleague, but his accuracy makes up for it. The Indian batsmen have to be at their focussing best against the right-armer, for if there's even a minor drop in their concentration levels, Hazlewood can reverse the ball just about enough to cause trouble.

"It's going to be incredibly important in this series," Australia captain Steve Smith said about the reverse swing factor.

"Our two big quicks, Hazlewood and Starc, are very good reverse swing bowlers and they relish the challenge of playing against the best players in the world. India have some incredibly good batters, so it's going to be very exciting," he added.

The only time Australia have won a Test series in India since 1970, it was their fast bowlers doing maximum damage, not the spinners. In 2004 when Australia won 2-1, their trio of fast bowlers – Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath and Michael Kasprowicz – picked up 43 wickets in total.

Clearly, the importance of pacers causing damage with the old ball isn't lost on the Aussies.

"It's going to be huge," said seaming all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who can also do his bit with the old ball. "We've got arguably two of the best reverse swing bowlers in the world in our team. So that's something that we're going to try and use against the Indians."

Talking of the Indians, they have a big reverse-swinging weapon as well in Yadav.

Just ask Shakib Al Hasan, who termed Yadav's old ball spell to him on the third day of their one-off Test in Hyderabad as the best he had ever faced. Or ask the South Africans, who had as few answers to counter the Vidarbha pacer's reverse swing as the Indian spinners in that 2015 series.

On the rare occasions that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have failed to break a partnership for the hosts in this home season, captain Virat Kohli has turned to Yadav to work his magic with the reverse.

"Yadav has realised that he can best utilise his reverse swing skills by pitching the ball further up. Earlier, he was trying to hit the deck a lot. But now he looks to bowl full even with the old ball, which is doing the trick," Yadav's mentor Subroto Banerjee said about his ward's improved ability with the old ball.

And, Kohli knows that he can also play Ishant Sharma in place of Bhuvneswhar Kumar should he want an added reverse-swinging option with some more pace.

Whoever it may be, but one thing's for sure. This series is not going to be all about spin.

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