IND v AUS 2020: 'I don't think India will be able to turn it around' - Brad Haddin
Former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin recently opined that India will find it very hard to stage a comeback in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Virat Kohli’s men were bundled out for 36 in the second innings of the opening Test against Australia in Adelaide before eventually losing by 8 wickets.
In an interview with SEN Radio, Brad Haddin said that the Adelaide Test was India’s best chance of winning a match in the series.
Though the surfaces in Melbourne and Sydney will be conducive to India’s line-up, Brad Haddin acknowledged that the visitors will struggle to bounce back after the morale-sapping loss.
“I don’t think they will [recover from the loss]...I thought their only opportunity to win a Test match was the first Test at Adelaide. I thought the conditions suited their bowling and I thought they’d get enough runs. But I don’t think they’ll be able to turn it around," Brad Haddin, who scored 6,789 runs in 66 Tests, 126 ODIs and 34 T20Is, said.
“You’ve got one Test up at Brisbane where no one beats Australia. These next two wickets will be suited to Indian cricket, but I don’t think they’ll be able to turn it around,” Brad Haddin added.
India began Day 3 with a first innings lead of 62 runs and nine wickets in hand, but one wicket followed another. They were decimated by Josh Hazlewood (5 for 8) and Pat Cummins (4 for 21) for just 36, and the Aussies comfortably chased down the 90-run target by the second session.
‘India have to tackle a lot of things over this next week,’ says Brad Haddin
Along with the mental hurdle of putting the demons of Adelaide to bed, India now have to make amends to their line-up. With Virat Kohli on paternity leave, fast bowler Mohammad Shami ruled out with a fractured arm and opener Prithvi Shaw terribly out of form, the Indian thinktank has a tough job on their hands.
Brad Haddin highlighted the sharp contrast in India’s current bowling attack to the one which emerged triumphant Down Under in 2018-19. The 43-year-old further added that the performances of the batsmen will come under the scanner in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test, which starts on December 26.
“They had a great bowling attack the last time they came out here, and now with Shami out with a broken arm they don’t have enough depth to cover that...There were a few performances from the Indian batsmen that will come under scrutiny over the next week," Brad Haddin said.
“Do they go in with [Wriddhiman] Saha? Who goes to the top-order for Prithvi Shaw? Rohit Sharma comes out of quarantine, does he come back into the side? They have a lot of things they’re going to have to tackle over this next week leading into this next Test,” Brad Haddin elaborated.
Rohit Sharma will only be available for the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. So India will look to include Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and maybe even Rishabh Pant in their playing XI for the Melbourne Test.
On the bowling front, either Navdeep Saini or Mohammad Siraj is expected to join Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. The remaining three Tests will be played in Melbourne (Dec 26-30), Sydney (Jan 7-11) and Brisbane (Jan 15-19).