Tweak talk ... an artist’s impression of what Shane Warne’s post-match conference may have looked like. (Owing to BCCI restrictions on photography accreditation, Fairfax Media will be bringing you all the action from Chennai in stick-figure form.) Photo: SMH Graphics
CHENNAI: Australia's lone danger man in the first Test, James Pattinson, could be rested from the second leg of the series in Hyderabad, with team hierarchy desperate not to risk the fast bowler breaking down again.
The visitors have only a three-day turnaround until the second Test begins on Saturday and will consider the impact the rigours of the Chennai defeat had on the 22-year-old Victorian, who was making his international return from a left lower rib injury suffered against South Africa in November.
India completed an eight-wicket win in Chennai on Tuesday morning, successfully managing a 50-run chase after Australian debutant Moises Henriques had been stranded on 81 not out. They lead the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 1-0.
Pattinson, like the NSW all-rounder, was a leading light for Australia, claiming 5-96 in the first innings - including five of India's top seven - and adding another in their brief second dig on Tuesday. On the second day, his quickest deliveries reached 150km/h, and on a wicket not designed for quicks, he was able to cause the Indians no shortage of trouble.
However, Pattinson is coming off what the Cricket Australia high performance team regard as a ''low base'' - entering the first Test with only a Sheffield Shield appearance in January, and a two-day tour game in Chennai, as well as a cameo in Melbourne club cricket last month.
After being used carefully by Australian captain Michael Clarke early in the match - Pattinson bowled only six overs in two full sessions on Saturday but devastated the India top order in the process - he finished the match in hot conditions with a total of 33 overs under his belt, more than any of the tourists except spinner Nathan Lyon.
The concern with Pattinson's workload is based on his previous breakdowns. After starring against South Africa in Brisbane last November, he went down during the second Test in Adelaide, wiped out for the rest of the international summer.
A season earlier, a stress injury in his foot - sustained in Sydney - cut short his home series against India. It was later revealed that Cricket Australia sports scientists had warned he could break down in that match. On that occasion, he was out for two months. A back injury also ruled him out of the series in the West Indies last April, midway through the tour.
Selectors receive advice from the high performance team on players' workloads and fitness before every match and then make their own decisions. The problem with giving Pattinson a break, though, is that he was Australia's only effective bowler in Chennai, where Clarke's side were blown away by M.S. Dhoni's thundering double century.
''He was fantastic on a pretty good batting wicket,'' Clarke said. ''To keep running in, in that first innings, and hit the wicket, I think he bowled 30 overs. I think that's a real positive for him and for us.''
Clarke admitted the other pacemen in Chennai, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc, bowled below expectations but said conditions were very difficult. There is a drive on for Australia to pick a second spinner, Xavier Doherty, in Hyderabad but Clarke refrained from saying whether they would stick with three genuine fast bowlers there.
''I need to see the conditions first - I think it will be silly to talk about the make up of the team without seeing conditions,'' he said.
''The [pacemen] tried everything. I think our execution wasn't as disciplined as we need. Especially when the wicket is good for batting like that, you need to be really patient and be able to build pressure. We did that at stages but not as consistently as we needed to.''
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