Best chance to make history Down Under?
With key figures missing from the Australian Test setup, it is but natural for a fan to have this question. It is not wrong to have high expectations from this current Indian Test side, especially if both England and South Africa tours are analyzed.
The scoreline at the end of those series might not reflect the performance of this team and the moments they had throughout the series. For some reason, Kohli’s men have not been able to seize these moments and as a result, failed to cross that line repeatedly.
The Shastri-Kohli duo should have realised by now that the margin for error is very narrow when it comes to an overseas Test series. They would look to select the best possible playing eleven, which has been an issue in away series lately.
Found guilty of skipping warm-up matches in England and South Africa, the management has requested Cricket Australia to arrange two warm-up games before the Test series begins on December 6. This would help the players acclimatize better before the start of the first Test.
The team can draw some inspiration from their performance four years back on the Aussie soil. It was a tightly contested series which ended 2-0 in Australia’s favour.
One big thing missing this time around would be the Smith-Kohli showdown, featuring two of the best batsmen in world cricket. India won’t mind Smith’s absence as he had amassed 769 runs, averaging 128.16, scoring 4 hundreds and 2 fifties in just 4 Tests.
Smith's phenomenal performance across all the 4 Tests ensured that Australia scored a 500 plus score in each of the 4 Tests. Kohli was also pretty much equal to the task, scoring 692 runs along with 4 hundreds and 1 fifty. But, India were unable to reach 500 throughout the series.
Although India wrapped up the Test series against the Windies without any substantial resistance from the visitors, they had few positives to gain from the 2-0 win. The fans witnessed promising starts from two youngsters Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant who are guaranteed a spot in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Another major positive was Umesh Yadav’s maiden 10-wicket haul in the second Test at Hyderabad. He made a strong case for himself, and now the team management would have a happy headache of selecting the bowlers in the playing eleven. This must be the best pool of Indian fast bowlers that is touring Australia.
The only thing to improve for the bowlers would be the ability to clean up the tail. This inability has cost Team India dearly on a few occasions. The captain has also backed KL Rahul to come back strong in the upcoming series.
Meanwhile, Australia’s batting order seems to be in complete disarray in the absence of Smith, Warner and Bancroft. Khawaja’s injury in the recently concluded Test series against Pakistan may force him out of the series against India. His special inning in the first Test helped Australia to register a record-breaking draw in UAE.
The dip in the form of Marsh brothers would also be a concern for the team management. The selectors will follow the Sheffield Shield matches closely before selecting the squad for the first series of the home season.
However, one should not underestimate the Aussies especially when they are playing in their backyard. They still have a lethal quartet of match-winning bowlers in Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon.
Lyon was instrumental in the last series versus India down under. He claimed 23 wickets including a match-winning 10-wicket haul in the first Test. The pace trio have enough time to get to 100 percent fitness before the series starts.
All in all, it does seem to be the best opportunity for the Indian team to register their maiden Test series win down under.