The four-match Test series between the hosts Australia and the visitors India is going to begin on Thursday (December 6) at Adelaide Oval (Adelaide). Prior to this Test series, India is the no.1 Test ranked team and Australia is the no.5 Test ranked team.
Australian cricket team
It is the first Test for the Australian cricket team in the ongoing 2018/19 home summer. Australia is always known as a dangerous cricket team on their home soil and at present, they have unbeaten in last nine home Tests (won eight matches and drew only once).
However, in the absence of two important dependable batsmen David Warner and Steven Smith, Australia’s batting order seems very weaker. Still, they have some good batsmen who can carry the innings for the long period of time and have some good number of consistency records too. But as a Test batting unit, they haven’t much experience.
The bowling unit is Australia’s best strength at the moment. As all their top bowlers are well fit, it brings a huge hope for the hosts prior to the important Test series. The present Australian bowling unit is one of their best bowling units in history.
Indian cricket team
Before the beginning of this Test series, the no.1 ranked Test team India has been tagged as a favourite by many experts. However, their away Test records have put a big question mark on that bold prediction.
Though the Indian batting is enough strong and experienced, especially comparing with the present Australian Test batting, the most of batsmen are not so consistent outside the Asian soil. While they have to face now one of toughest bowling line-ups in the present cricket world, the Indian batsmen need to adjust the unfamiliar condition in very quick times. Currently, India’s batting widely depended on the top-ranked Test batsman Virat Kohli but the other batsmen also have the big calibres to build a strong total.
On the other hand, India’s present bowling line-up is probably their best bowling line-up in international cricket history. The Indian cricket team has a very strong pace-bowling unit along with the various qualities. Meanwhile, India’s spin-bowling unit is a mixture of experience and top-quality variations. However, at present, they have to fight with the unfamiliar Australian condition.
Also read: Team India Announces 12-Member Squad For Adelaide Test
Full squads
Australia: Tim Paine (capt/wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitchell Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc and Chris Tremain.
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Murali Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav
Key Stats Preview:
- India never won the Test series on the Australian soil. Playing 11 Test series on the Australian soil, India lost eight times and drew three other times.
- India has played 44 Tests in Australia where they have won only five matches, lost 28 matches and drawn the other 11 games.
- India played 11 Tests at Adelaide Oval (Adelaide) where they won only once, lost seven times and drew the other three times.
- India never won the first match of any Test series on the Australian soil. In the previous 11 Test series in Australia, India managed to draw the first Test of the series only twice and both times those series ended in a draw.
- Indian skipper Virat Kohli (992 runs) needs to score 8 more runs to complete 1,000 Test runs on the Australian soil. With this achievement, Kohli will become the fourth Indian batsman to score 1,000+ Test runs in Australia.
- Indian opening batsman Murali Vijay (3,933 runs) needs to score 67 more runs to complete 4,000 Test runs. He will become the 15th Indian batsman to score 4,000 or more runs in a Test career.
- Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (4,905 runs) needs to score 95 more runs to complete 5,000 Test runs. He will become the 12th Indian batsman to score 5,000 or more runs in a Test career.
