Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell has issued a warning to Team India to not take the upcoming Test series against Australia lightly. In 2018, India has already two away Test series one against South Africa (1-2) and another against England (1-4). India’s next overseas assignment will be against Australia, where they lost their last four-match series 2-0 in 2014-15.
Nevertheless, Australia will be missing their crucial cogs, Steve Smith and David Warner. The two veterans, as well as opener Cameron Bancroft, were handed bans following their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa earlier this year. On paper, the Australian squad is looking considerably weaker since their big guns will not be available. But Chappell reckons that Team India can’t commit the mistake of taking the Australian team lightly, even in the absence of Smith and Warner.
Despite being the no.1 Test squad in the world, India has only won 2 of the last 8 Tests they have played overseas. Virat Kohli‘s boys have failed to assert their dominance away from home, which has been a weakness of the Indian team for several years now.
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However, the series scorelines don’t paint the full picture of the current Indian team. India’s bowlers performed exceptionally well in English conditions. Moreover, the Indian skipper, who had a miserable tour of England in 2014, scored around 600 runs in the in the recently concluded Test series. As a unit, Kohli and his men will take these positives forward as they prepare for an important tour to Australia. But India is still struggling to find batsmen who can stay at the crease so that the team doesn’t have to rely on Kohli as much.
Talking about the same, in his column for ESPNCricinfo, Chappell wrote, “India now has to look on rehabilitating their reputation in the highly anticipated series against Australia but the batting inadequacies have to be addressed. While Australia’s batting is questionable, with their two best players, Steven Smith and David Warner, missing through suspension, the bowling attack is still extremely strong.”
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He further added, “If Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Patrick Cummin, and Nathan Lyon remain fit then the Indian batsmen will be in for a challenging time. In England, it was moving through the air and off the seam that created regular problems for them – apart from Virat Kohli – but it will be the extra bounce in Australia that sorts the men from the boys.”
Team India will begin their tour Down Under on November 21 with 3 T20Is. The all-important Test series will be commencing at the Adelaide Oval on December 6. After playing four Tests, the two teams will also clash against each other in 3 ODIs in the new year.
