Former high-profile Australian coach John Buchanan feels that the in-form Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be not able to dominate in the upcoming Test series as the hosts’ Australian bowlers will bowl well to him.
The present no.1 Test and ODI ranked batsman Virat Kohli is currently in a top-form with the bat, both in the home and away venues. Admitting the fact that Kohli is an outstanding batsman, Buchanan feels that Australian bowlers will put him in a tough test.
The former World Cup-winning coach told TOI, “As far as batting is concerned, Australia don’t have a batsman of Virat Kohli’s calibre. But the Australians will bowl well to Kohli and I don’t think he will be able to dominate the series.
“Kohli likes to get bat on ball very early. Therefore, a left-arm pacer like Starc will look to bowl away from him and get Kohli to chase the ball. I think the Australians know how to bowl to Kohli and it’s about whether or not they can execute their plans. Having said that, Kohli is an outstanding player who has the ability to negate Australia’s tactics.”
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Though he understands that Australia is struggling in the recent international cricket, Buchannan still feels that it will be a very close series due to India’s poor away records.
The 65-year-old said, “I see it as a very close series. While Australia are weakened, India’s record away from home is not very good — like every touring team right now. That automatically gives the home team an advantage. On top of that, Australia have a better bowling attack for home conditions.”
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Buchanan further added that Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja are enough to protect the Australian batting side and to lead for the series victory.
The former Aussie coach quoted, “I feel the likes of Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja will contribute sufficiently to enable Australia to win the series.”
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Buchanan doesn’t feel that this Australian side is the weakest as he believes that the team has one of the best bowling line-ups in their history with a lot of variety.
He said, “It certainly is one of the best bowling attacks Australia have fielded in their history. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon form an impressive line-up. The attack has a lot of variety. I think the Australian batsmen have been inconsistent and are not playing with a lot of confidence. It makes them vulnerable but I don’t see it as the weakest line-up.”
Buchanan also praised the Indian pacers and feels that they will put in trouble the hosts batting line-up. However, he still believes that Australia is just ahead against India before the Test series.
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The former Australian coach said, “The Indian attack has fine pacers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. They are accurate and can swing the ball. Any modern-day batting line-up finds it difficult to play the swinging ball. In Bhuvi, Mohammed Shami and Bumrah, India have the right blend of pacers to trouble the Australian batting line-up. But I still feel Australia have the edge at the moment.”
