India are set for a tough start to Australia with the pitch in Perth expected to have a really good pace and bounce resembling the characteristics of the WACA ground. Having played on the dust bowls at home recently and shelved the only practice match before the opener, the batters will have to gauge the conditions quickly in order to compete.
The drop-in pitch at the Optus Stadium in Perth contains the same local clay and grass species as WACA where the pitches have been spicy at the Sheffield Shield this season. WA Cricket head curator Isaac McDonald has assured to replicate the conditions that were on offer last summer when Australia and Pakistan played at the venue.
"This is Australia, this is Perth... I'm setting ourselves up for a really good pace, really good bounce and really good carry. In a perfect world, I want to emulate last year," he said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo. He also stated that the 10 mm grass had held the pitch together before the cracks opened up as the AUS vs PAK Test match progressed. McDonald has confirmed that the grass of similar length will once again be left on the pitch this time around.
"It's [10 mm] a good starting point. Ten millimetres was pretty comfortable with the conditions that we had [last year] and that held the conditions together nicely for the first few days. Live grass on the pitch is speed. Both bowling units were pretty rapid last year and hoping for much the same this year. But, as we saw last year, good batters were able to take the game on and put away balls and score runs quickly," he added.
Interestingly, Pakistan played an ODI at the same venue on Sunday against a weakened Australian side and comfortably won the match by eight wickets. The surface had considerable pace and bounce in it and the visitors' four-pronged pace attack bundled the Aussies for just 140 runs. However, for the Test match, a different strip will be used to resemble what happened last year in a Test match.
