Indian media: India to face Australia pace test

Papers are doubtful over captain MS Dhoni's fitness for the first Test

Papers are advising India's cricket team to show discipline and brilliance against Australia in the first Test in Adelaide.

The four-match series begins on Tuesday after it was postponed following the tragic death of Australian cricketer Philip Hughes last month.

Hughes succumbed to injury after he was hit on the top of the neck by a short delivery from Sean Abbott while batting for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match.

In the backdrop of Hughes' death, The Times of India says the Indian team is likely to face "two possible types of opposition" in Australia.

The Australian team may either be "disinterested in mundane affairs like winning and losing on the field" or may "take recourse to therapeutic sporting confrontation of the typically Aussie kind", the paper says.

The conditions in Adelaide, however, may be suitable for the Indians, the paper adds.

"It's a fair bet the conditions here are as amenable as they're likely to be for Indians. The drop-in pitch is known to be on the slower side, and India have a famous Test win in December 2003 to take heart from," it adds.

Meanwhile, papers say India's young batting line-up will be tested against Australia's formidable pace attack led by fast bowler Mitchell Johnson.

The Australian fast bowler said that he would play aggressive cricket and would not shy away from bowling short-pitch deliveries.

Mitchell Johnson is Australia's strike bowler

Cricketnext.com warns that "India needs to be wary of the damage that the Australian pace trio can incur, if the middle-order is exposed to the new ball very early on in the innings".

The performance of top order batsmen Virat Kohli, Chiteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan will be crucial for the Indian team's success, papers say.

All four batsmen had struggled in India's tour of England in July this year. India had lost the five-match Test series 1-3.

Bowling worries

In the bowling department, papers feel the Indian team lacks experience.

The Times of India says apart from pacer Ishant Sharma, other bowlers "don't have much experience of pacer-friendly conditions" in Australia.

Meanwhile, papers wonder if captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is recovering from a thumb injury, will lead the team in the first Test.

Dhoni arrived in Australia on Saturday and may take time to acclimatise, The Indian Express says.

"It would be surprising if he does captain the team on Tuesday just 72 hours post his arrival in the country. While the rest of the squad have spent close to three weeks in the city, acclimatising to the conditions here, Dhoni will literally take guard still nursing jetlag," the paper says.

And finally, tennis fans in Delhi flocked to watch 17-times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer play at the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

"Thousands of lucky tennis fans experienced a lifetime moment on Sunday when they watched global icon Roger Federer play on Indian soil for the first time at the Delhi leg of the IPTL," The Times of India reports.

Launched in November, the IPTL features top tennis stars representing four cities - Dubai, Manila, Delhi and Singapore.

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