Australia vs India 2018-19: 7 milestones in sight for Indian team in the Test series
After a brief hiatus, yet another series of mouth-watering red-ball contests is all set to begin next week, as India will lock horns with Australia in the first out of four Test matches to be played between December 2018 and January 2019.
The Test series is important to both Australia and India in several contexts. India will be looking for victories that will wash away all the dirt and pain from their harrowing losses to South Africa and England earlier this year, where they lost 1-2 and 1-4 respectively.
Meanwhile, Australia, who are reeling in the absence of Steven Smith and David Warner, is yet to complete a series win across formats, ever since the start of the International ban on both the players on account of the ball-tampering in the South African Test series from March.
A win in their own backyard would boost the morale of the Aussies, while the win for India may fuel their hopes in several overseas conquests in the years to come.
Both sides are counting on a positive result from the series to set their preparations right for the World Cup 2019, which has already announced its impending arrival among the cricketing fraternity.
Australia and India are also the latest winners of the game's ultimate prize, the former in 2015 and the latter in 2011.
The Sony Pictures Sports Network - India, who is in charge of live television coverage and broadcast of the series in the Indian subcontinent, had released an advertisement on the same, which really hit the nail on its head while referring to the intense rivalry between both sides.
Sparks are certain to fly as Virat Kohli and co. gear up to face the Kangaroos, in their own territory.
Meanwhile, let us take a look at a few remarkable numbers that are within touching distance for a few Indians in the squad.
These may as well serve as a motivation for the visitors to do well in the series. Here we go then:
#1 Virat Kohli is eight runs away from the 1000 run mark in Tests on Australian soil
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has played just eight Tests in Australia so far, and yet he is already the fourth-best Indian in terms of Test runs made Down Under.
The 30-year-old batsman has made 992 runs from 16 innings in eight matches, at an average of 62.00, including five hundreds and two fifties. His highest score in Australia is 169.
Kohli is just eight runs away from 1000 runs, and we can easily assume that he will cross the feat in the game.
Upon doing so, he will be the fastest Indian to get there as well. As of now, he is behind Sachin Tendulkar (1809 runs from 38 innings in 20 matches), VVS Laxman (1236 runs from 29 innings in 15 matches) and Rahul Dravid (1143 runs from 30 innings in 15 matches) in terms of runs scored in Australian venues.
Murali Vijay (482 runs from eight innings in four matches) and Ajinkya Rahane (399 runs from eight innings in four matches) are the next best in line, considering Indian players who are still active.