Rohit Sharma is expected to return for India. His absence exposes the grim reality behind Australia's major depth issue
India are 1-0 up in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The first win against Australia was nothing short of dominant.
But the stark reality is, the winning side could be set to make more changes than Australia.
Captain Rohit Sharma will somehow make his way back into the side while Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja sit on the fringes and Shubman Gill attempts to come back from injury.
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Rohit Sharma is likely to come back into India's side. Getty
Pat Cummins said he would be "very surprised" if any changes were made to the Aussie team but coach Andrew McDonald did not deny Josh Inglis could make his debut, albeit it seems unlikely.
The man who could make way for Sharma is Devdutt Padikkal who scored a duck and 25 in the first Test at No.3.
Former Australian opener Ed Cowan posed the question about how Sharma could upset the dynamics of India's batting order.
"Are they a better team without Rohit at the top at the moment?," he said on The Grandstand Cricket Podcast.
"I think he's going to come back into the team but that will change the dynamic of the team ... I think he might even bat at four. Send (Virat) Kohli out at three.
"... they've got some A grade players to come back into this squad and Australia are scratching their head at changes and don't know where to look. This is not just advantage Australia, they could quickly, and swiftly put a stake through the heart of the Australians."
To make matters more grim for Australia, world class bowler Mohammed Shami missed selection for the squad due to fitness.
Australia, in comparison, face concerns over the depth of their squad.
Boom youngster Sam Konstas was put forward as a potential contender for the opener's spot, despite his inexperience.
Nathan McSweeney made his Test debut on the back of only one half-century in four innings across the two Australia A matches.
West Australian opener Cameron Bancroft has long had support to replace David Warner at the top of the order, however he picked the worst time to have a form slump.
In the first three Sheffield Shield matches, he passed double figures only twice along with 0, 16, 0 and 3 in the Australia A matches.
Cameron Bancroft celebrates his century. Getty
He has now rocketed back into contention, however, after scoring a timely century against South Australia.
Bancroft's ton now puts slight pressure on Marnus Labuschagne who is averaging 24.50 this year.
Cowan believes Labuschagne is "at sea".
"His numbers suggest this. It's something that's flown under the radar while this whole opening selection debacle has gone on, as soon you start talking about bowling, don't worry about your bowling, you're in the team to score a hundred ... his job is to bat," he said.
