Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is surprised to see that Adelaide Oval (Adelaide) is hosting the Test series opener against the visitors India instead of the Gabba (Brisbane).

After the completion of three-match T20I series that ended with the 1-1 result, the hosts Australia and the visitors India are now ready for the four-match Test series, starting on December 6. Watson believes that the first Test of the series should be scheduled at Brisbane rather than Adelaide as it mostly put advantage for the hosts.

Recently, Watson told CricketNext, “From my perspective, it’s hard to imagine that the first Test of the series is not at Gabba. I grew up in Brisbane, so I used to go to the first day of the Test all the time.

“It’s strange that the first Test is not in Brisbane because Gabba’s pace, bounce and swing against the away team is always an advantage. Adelaide is a bit more placid, there’s not much swing and could be much more of a contest.”

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While many experts have put India on the favorite seat of this series due to Australia is missing David Warner and Steven Smith, Watson also agrees with the fact. However, he still feels that it will be not an easy series for the Indian cricketers.

Watson said on that, “Playing Australia in Australia is very tough but having said that this is India’s best chance to win, especially because (Steve) Smith and (David) Warner are missing. But India are going to find it really hard to win even with their incredible batting line-up and fast bowling resources being probably the best that they have had in a while coming to Australia. Still with the wickets the way they are — the pace and bounce, we are accustomed to playing here as well, so that doesn’t make things easy for the Indians.”

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While the Indian skipper and the no.1 ranked Test and ODI batsman Virat Kohli is the major focus in the Indian batting line-up, Watson believes the Indian batting is enough strong even without the powerful man Kohli.

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Watson spoke on that, “I have seen the other batsmen a lot, played against them in IPL. KL Rahul for one has some good memories of Australia, after his century on the last tour. Rishabh Pant is incredibly talented, it’ll be interesting to see how he goes, because I have not seen him bat outside India. Their batting is strong even with Virat out of the equation.”

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Watson also claimed that India’s fast bowling is equally strong and he further praised the 24-year-old right-arm Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

The former Aussie all-rounder added, “India’s fast bowling resources are equally strong as well. (Jasprit) Bumrah has good speed and is a little bit different with his angle. He is not your typical outswing bowler, provides bit more all-roundness to the bowling.”