The long cricket season for India at home is reaching its
climax. What began with a 3 Test and 5 ODI series against New Zealand, moved on
to 5 Tests, 3 ODI’s and 3 T20’s against England followed by a one off test against
Bangladesh ,will end with four tests against Australia.
Australia head into
this series having triumphed 3-0 in their previous test series against
Pakistan. The team’s fortunes changed after losing the second test to South
Africa at home and the sacking of many players. However the new bunch of
players haven’t been tested in Indian conditions. The practice camp in Dubai is
something they tried to adjust themselves to Indian pitches and the heat, but,
a stimulation is completely different from the real thing. In Dubai they wouldn’t
have had Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja standing 22 yards across and
bowling, nor will they have had huge audiences watching them as there will be
in the Indian stadiums. Virat Kohli too wouldn’t have been there. The
Australians certainly wouldn’t have forgotten what happened to them after they
attempted to sledge him.
India in this home season have played 9 tests and won 8 of them(the 1st test against England was a draw) and are the top ranked test team and will be playing on
turning pitches. Australia has only 2 good players of spin David Warner and Steve
Smith and if they misfire it will be a long hard tour.
The Indian team is in form and are unbeaten in the last 19
test matches and one can actually predict the line-up they will name on the 23rd.
The situation is such that the man who scored a triple century in
his last outing can’t get a look in. Jayant Yadav may feature as he was
rested after his century against England in the 4th test so as to allow
squad rotation after the test series had been won. He didn’t play against Bangladesh
as India didn’t dish out a rank turner and opted to field 3 pacers.
On the other hand the Australians are unsettled and will
make last minute calls on whether Marsh will open or play in the middle order, whether
Usman Khawaja will play at 4. Also there will be a late call on Glenn Maxwell
and Mitchell Marsh for the all rounder slot. Maxwell can bowl spin but isn’t a
safe bet to bat long periods and save a test match(yes he can score quick runs,
but test cricket won’t really require an all out assault) Mitchell Marsh is a
more calm batsman but he is a medium pacer. Do Australia need runs or wickets?
I say wickets and wont even rule out captain Steve Smith revisiting his past
where he was a bowling all-rounder and being the 2nd or 3rd
spinner for the team.
The Australians lost 4-0 the last time they were here will
be looking to win their first test in India since 2004, but will even
appreciate their first draw since 2008, and honestly based on the state of the
Australian team and the form of India, a draw will be regarded as a win for
Australia.
My prediction. India win 4-0 and Australia fight hard in 2
test matches(mostly the last one in Dharamshala) and the first one because it
is the first one(even England battled it out in the first one)
Series begins in Pune on the 23rd.
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