Australia are likely to go in with just the one spinner in the third Test match that begins on January 7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Australia vice-captain Pat Cummins said on Wednesday.
With the SCG helping spin bowlers more than any other Australian surface, visiting teams are often tempted to go in with two spinners.
However, the presence of Marnus Labuschagne, who also bowls leg-spin, as an option may prompt the Aussies to field the same bowling attack that they have fielded in the first two Tests.
“I am not a selector but I would say, probably no. I would say we have someone like Marnus. He can bowl some leg-spin overs,” said Cummins while speaking to the media on Wednesday.
The Aussie vice-captain said he was impressed with the team's bowling performance, giving another hint that they will go with an unchanged bowling line-up.
"I thought our execution has been really good. You know we created a lot of chances, especially in the first innings. To bowl out a side for around 300 at Melbourne Cricket Ground on a really good wicket, create so many chances is a big tick here. Pretty happy from that regard," he said.
"Of course, there are things we need to work on. Rahane batted beautifully, got a hundred. Maybe, we will look at what we can do differently when we review that but I thought the effort from everyone was really good. I thought Starcy (Mitchell Starc) with the way he bowled, the morning two days ago, to the tail and Jadeja, Rahane was fantastic. Overall, I thought it was really good performance by the quicks and Lyon," Cummins added.
The Aussies will have a couple of days off before they resume training on January 2nd and 3rd at MCG. They then fly out to Sydney on the 4th and spend a couple of days at nets at SCG before playing the next Test.
"Happy to get back to SCG (which is his home ground). Our record there is pretty good. In terms of pitch it is probably closer to the MCG wicket than any other wicket. It is normally quite dry and a bit slow. Nathan Lyon normally gets turn. Excited to get to a different wicket and at home," said Cummins ahead of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series that will be telecast live on Sony Six, Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3.
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