By Andrew Wu
RANCHI: Australia's plans for the third Test have been thrown into uncertainty by Ranchi's "rolled mud", leaving all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis sweating on the selectors' call.
The visitors were on Wednesday night still weighing which Victorian would come into the 11 to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh for what captain Steve Smith described as the "premiership quarter".
Paceman Pat Cummins is all but certain to play, giving Smith the option of unleashing 150 km/h thunderbolts at India's batsmen.
The choice between Maxwell and Stoinis is not as clear cut. Maxwell is the favourite to claim the No.6 berth but there remains the possibility last-minute call-up Stoinis could swoop down the outside and become Australia's 451st Test player.
In the mix: Victoria's Marcus Stoinis.Credit: Getty Images
Their fates rest on whether the underdogs decide they need an extra spin or seam-bowling option on a wicket that few in the Australian camp are confident of predicting how it will play.
"I've never seen a wicket that's looked quite as dark as that one is," Smith said. "It looks like there's mud sort of rolled together. It looks a bit different but, having said that, both teams have to play on it.
"I don't think there will be a great deal of bounce. I think it will shoot quite low. And I think it will take reasonable amounts of spin as the game goes on.
"I'm actually not sure how it's going to play. It's hard to get a gauge on this one. But I dare say there won't be much bounce. But I've been wrong with wickets before so we'll sum that up when we get out there."
Hold me back: Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell.Credit: AP
Smith has not given Maxwell much bowling in recent months, however the man they call The Big Show had success with his off-spin in Ranchi four years ago.
In Maxwell's favour, however, is the fact he has had six weeks to adjust to Indian conditions, while Stoinis has had only two days to acclimatise.
The dead wicket is likely to dull Cummins' pace but he made a strong impression on Smith on his first day on the job.
"I think he's got some good variations: watching him bowl yesterday he bowled these cutters on the wicket and they were actually ragging and he's got some good skills there as well," Smith said.
"The extra pace is always nice on there."
While the prospect of low bounce will challenge the defence of all batsmen, there may be some relief if it remains consistent.
"The [Bangalore] wicket was probably more down than up so I was always afraid of the one shooting low like in the second innings I guess to get you out," Smith said.
"For me it was about trying to almost play French cricket if the ball was on my stumps, try and cover that as well as I could and if I got any width or anything like that then throw my hands at it and try and score that way.
"It was a credit to the Indian quicks I thought they bowled very well their line and lengths were spectacular really throughout the whole match and didn't give us a whole lot to score off.
"It was very difficult and usually when you wait it out for as long as I did you get those loose balls but they didn't really come the other day."