India vs Australia, 2017: Australia will tour India without coach Darren Lehmann
What's the story?
The head coach of Australia, Darren Lehmann, will not monitor his team during their limited overs tour to India. This step was a result of Australia's equivocal performance against Bangladesh in the two-match Test series that resulted in a draw.
Lehmann, who is also a member of the selection panel, has decided to focus on the 2017-18 Ashes instead. This year, Australia will host arch-rivals England for the five-match Test series scheduled to commence from 23rd November. According to the reports, he has already started working towards building the team for the same.
In his absence, the Australian team's assistant coach, David Saker will take over the command for the team's ODI and T20 series against India.
In case you didn't know...
Australia's visit to Bangladesh in August 2017 witnessed Bangladesh emerging as a stronger team while their guests remained visibly stunned by the turn of events.
During the first Test match, the hosts registered a 20-run victory over Australia in a thrilling encounter. The Australians, however, bounced back in the second Test and defeated the Tigers by seven wickets to level the series.
Earlier this year, Australia visited India for the Border-Gavaskar trophy and it turned out to be a disappointing series. India won the four-match Test series by 2-1 and the third Test was drawn.
The details
The performance of the Australian team was bound to worry their coach. With only eleven more weeks to go for their bout against England, Australia cannot afford a similar performance.
The Australian squad has an assured position for the opener David Warner and the off-spinner Nathan Lyon owing to their match saving performances against Bangladesh.
Lyon's bowling figures read 13/154 which is the best by any Australian bowler on the Asian soil. Moreover, his 22 wicket haul in the series is the second best figures following the 23-wicket haul by the Sri Lankan bowler, Rangana Herath. With this series, Lyon bagged 46 wickets in total that became the highest in this calendar year. Thereby, Lehmann himself assured that Lyon's place in the team cannot be doubted.
What's next?
Since Lehmann has decided to prioritise the Ashes ahead of their tour to India, Saker will take the reigns in his hand to train the team and devise the strategies. They will try to revive their confidence by performing well in this series.
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai will host the first ODI between India and Australia on 17 September.
Author's take
Coach Lehmann seems to be distressed by the fall of his team in International cricket. The mixed performance of the Australian team in the recently concluded Test series against Bangladesh has come at the worse possible time. Moreover, it must have taken a toll on their confidence.
Australia cannot afford to replicate this performance against England owing to the history of the rivalry that the Ashes is known for. Hence, Lehmann's decision is justified.