Pat Cummins expects to see a more proactive Marnus Labuschagne at the crease in Adelaide as Australia's No. 3 searches for a revival of fortunes, but it appears less likely he will be used extensively as a medium-pace bowler despite question marks over how many overs Mitchell Marsh has in him.
Labuschagne has come in for significant scrutiny after his first innings in Perth where he made 2 off 52 balls, which was followed by shouldering arms to Jasprit Bumrah in the second and being lbw for 3. However, analysis has shown it was a wicked delivery from Bumrah that skidded through low and Labuschagne was within his rights to believe it would have missed the stumps.
Still, his form has been troublesome for a while with 90 of the 123 runs he has made in his last ten Tests coming from one innings in Christchurch. During his net sessions in Adelaide, there has been a noticeable urgency to his strokeplay and indications he is looking for ways to rotate the strike. Labuschagne has an impressive record at Adelaide Oval with an average of 71.75 and three centuries.
"He's training well like he always does, hitting millions of balls," Cummins said. "It's pretty impossible to kind of dismiss or ignore some of the commentary about perhaps being a little bit more proactive, so I think you've seen that side of it in the nets. The challenge is always going out there and making sure you have that mindset. But he's been great like he always is. Always working on things, trying to plan how he's going to score his hundred this Test."
While accepting that Australia were not up to the mark in Perth, Cummins was hopeful that the batters would be better for having faced the India attack, most significantly Jasprit Bumrah, even though it did not go well.
"I hope there's some lessons learnt," he said. "The good thing is, batting and bowling we've now had a look at them, they've had a look at us as well, but you get a look at some of the bowling plans that you want to implement. The same with the batters, they know how they are going to be attacked first up. I'm sure - well, I really hope - everyone's kind of learnt a bit and come back here slightly better prepared having had a look at what they are going to throw at us."
Marsh, meanwhile, was locked in Australia's XI 24 hours out from the Test - the only change being Scott Boland replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood - and Cummins, who confirmed Marsh had been battling back stiffness since the white-ball tour of the UK, was confident the allrounder would be able to be part of the attack despite not doing any bowling in the lead-up.
"[We] made the call with the medical staff over the last couple of days to give him a couple of days off bowling, but expect him to warm up and if required [he] will bowl," Cummins said. "Guessing he would be required at some point… prioritise his overs for the games rather than kind of using up some of them in the nets."
In Perth, Labuschagne was used as a bouncer bowler until reverting to legspin late in India's second innings but Cummins indicated that any extra overs required in this match would likely be soaked up by the four main bowlers if Marsh was limited in his output.
"I'd say more likely turn to the fast bowlers a bit more," Cummins said. "In Perth, Joshy was getting a little bit sore as well there towards the end, so there's a bit of preservation there. Whereas this Test everyone's fit and firing so if that remains the case as a general rule you try and rely on your four main guys."
Andrew McGlashan explains the Australian side of things in the lead-up to the Adelaide pink-ball Test
Significantly, Cummins made mention of Boland's ability to bowl long spells as he returns to the Test side for the first time since last year's Ashes.
"All last summer he was geared up to go and no one fell over," Cummins said. "Feels like it's been quite a while [since he's played]. As a captain, it's pretty awesome to have someone like Scotty come straight in, you know he can bowl a huge amount of overs if you need. He's super consistent, he's performed at this level and looks ready to go."
However, there is increasing confidence that Hazlewood could be ready to return for the third Test in Brisbane after he bowled during training on Wednesday. Cummins explained that Hazlewood had initially continued to bowl after first feeling the side issue in Perth before the decision was taken not to push him through the problem.
"That's probably the right call in hindsight," he said. "I think in previous years where he's kept bowling, it's probably turned that one week injury into a three or four or five week injury whereas this year seems a little bit different and he's really confident."