3 Reasons why India’s Test series against West Indies is completely irrelevant before the Australia tour
When India thrashed opponent after opponent in their long run of home Test series, they looked like ‘Invincibles’ in the Test arena. In particular, their back-to-back (away and home) Test series Sri Lanka created a false impression among the cricketing fraternity.
With a mind full of (over) confidence from their unbeaten home run, Virat Kohli's men looked like the team to beat ahead of their much-awaited three major away tours.
"The conditions will be testing, but like I have said before, this one and half years will define this Indian cricket team and the whole team is aware of that" - Ravi Shastri, the Coach of the Indian cricket team, before the start of the South Africa tour
However, the outcome was different in their first two tours against South Africa and England. All India could manage was a solitary consolation victory in each of those series.
Now, ahead of their major overseas assignment against Australia, India will be hosting West Indies for a two-match Test series. Let us look at three reasons why this Test series is irrelevant ahead of the Australia tour.
#3 Conditions
The subcontinent tracks (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and UAE) are often known as the graveyards for batsmen from SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries. The way in which the ball spins from Day 1 is a nightmare for players from SENA nations.
Similarly, the bouncing, seaming and swinging conditions in SENA countries will be alien to subcontinent batsmen. It is not too long ago that India struggled in the swinging conditions (especially at Lord’s) against England.
Hence, India preparing for the Australian series in their familiar territory will not favour them in any case. Instead, a much earlier arrival in Australia along with a couple of practice matches can help them in acclimatizing to those conditions.