Australia vs India 2018-19: 3 Players who can win the 'Man of the Series' award
India will take on Australia in the first Test match in Adelaide on Thursday.
This series comes just days after the three-match T20I series ended in a draw, with the game in Melbourne being washed out. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli starred with the bat for India while Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya did a good job with the ball. For Australia, Adam Zampa was the most successful bowler, and Chris Lynn and Marcus Stoinis had a good time with the bat.
Many experts have picked India as favorites to win the Test series given their recent form and the lack of the dynamic Aussie duo of Steve Smith and David Warner, which has made their batting look weak. But the Aussies have already proved that they can be dangerous without them, so we can expect a cracker of a match and series.
There has also been plenty of chatter about who will be the most impactful players in the series. The batsmen from both teams are likely to dominate the proceedings because the wickets in Australia are more batsman-friendly these days, so you'd expect them to have a better shot at winning the 'Player of the Series' award.
Here, we look at the top three candidates to win the Man of the Series award.
#3 KL Rahul
The Indian opener hasn't had a great run of games leading up to this fixture but showed some signs of confidence in the second innings against Cricket Australia XI.
Rahul was touted be the next big thing in Indian cricket but hasn't been consistent with his batting. He will look to change that in this series and bat well in Australia, the place where he started his international career.
Rahul is at a crossroads now, and is considered more of a senior player in the team. We can compare his situation with that of Virat Kohli four years ago when he came to Australia.
Kohli was excellent in that series and scored 692 runs, averaging almost 88. Rahul will try to emulate the effort of his skipper in the current series.
Despite his recent failures, Rahul has a good record against Australia. He has scored 523 runs in 11 innings averaging 53.2.
Though there are many other candidates, it feels like Rahul is the one who has got more of a point to prove. He seems more likely to play the big innings and score heaps of runs as compared to most other players in the series.
Rahul needs to perform to retain his place in the side, but he has it in him to win matches for the team. He is a big match player and he is likely to shine in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.