Can this Australian team beat India in India?

[Cricfan4eva]

Consider a team like this, and think of what would have happened in 2014-15

M.Vijay
K.Rahul
V.Kohli
C.Pujara
A.Rahane
R.Sharma
W.Saha/Dhoni
K.Dev
R.Ashwin
J.Srinath
M.Shami

Point being,. If only we had a bowler or two like Kapil/Srinath, whereby we could have taken 10 wickets in an Aussie innings, we could have easily won that Adelaide test. (Notice I mentioned the same batting lineup of the 2014-15 series).

You made me curious. And I simmed it. Sorry bruh, we came close but we just aren't winning in Aus with any combination

 

[Tridibans_16]

Omg..why you no get my point?

I am not saying wasim didnt win series in aus cos he wasnt good enough. Of course pak batting messed up.

You need 2 things to win in aus.

Batting and a good pace attack.

If even one thing is missing, you wont win.

Having wasim wont do much unless the whole pace attack is well rounded.

Ok. So we are on the same page.

I only disagree with you that we couldn't win even with Akram was there. My point is, we DID have the batting in 2014-15 but our bowlers lacked a good leader (Kapil) or in this case Akram as Australia consistently recovered from early/ middle order setbacks.

Akram had a sub 25 average in Australia. Though pitches are way flatter now, he would have won us the series with batsmen like Kohli/ Rahane to put up scores on the board. Though, our supporting bowlers needed to be better than "speedster" Ishant or "spraygun" Yadav.

 

[Tridibans_16]

You made me curious. And I simmed it. Sorry bruh, we came close but we just aren't winning in Aus with any combination

Look at the margin of defeat

Definitely better than

 

[Cricfan4eva]

i haven't seen it yet in thakur, but I'm happy to be proven wrong. Better pace depth is much welcome always.

"I don't believe that this is who we have. We just aren't looking hard enough." I would make the case that we are not looking hard enough at what we do have and not realising their strengths.

So you think Ishant who has toured to Australia 3 times, Yadav 2 times haven't been looked at hard enough?

 

[Tridibans_16]

Also look at Kapil Dev.... 8/150 or so.....

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Look at the margin of defeat

Definitely better than

Yeah well we lost by a similar margin at Adelaide too.


Fact is, we will compete under Kohli and may even nick a win or two which we failed to complete despite getting into winnable positions under Dhoni but we are no where close to having a team that can beat Aus in Aus or SA in SA.

 

[Saurav]

Imagine Warner and Smith on those flat tracks with Parthiv Patel as keeper.

But to be fair to Parthiv, he is actually a clutch keeper. He only goes after the best batsmen who can change the game and DROPS them.

)

Well his swag reminds me of KP and Yuvraj,just doesnt have the ability

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Ok. So we are on the same page.

I only disagree with you that we couldn't win even with Akram was there. My point is, we DID have the batting in 2014-15 but our bowlers lacked a good leader (Kapil) or in this case Akram as Australia consistently recovered from early/ middle order setbacks.

Akram had a sub 25 average in Australia. Though pitches are way flatter now, he would have won us the series with batsmen like Kohli/ Rahane to put up scores on the board. Though, our supporting bowlers needed to be better than "speedster" Ishant or "spraygun" Yadav.

Your last line sums it up.

We are on the same page.

Its about who the support bowlers are.

Wasim, srinath and kapil along with our batting would work.

Wasim, srinath and 2004 irfan pathan along with our batting could also work.

 

[FlickedOffHips]

So you think Ishant who has toured to Australia 3 times, Yadav 2 times haven't been looked at hard enough?

no i would absolutely stick with them because the efforts of our coaching staff are just starting to pay off. you seem too ready to right them off.

Ishant is just 28. has been in the team since 22. has been asked to lead attacks when he wasn't ready. offers a unique set of skills. we have put too much into ishant to abandon him at the age of 28, right when he has the best chance to put it all together.

Yadav has come a long way in the last 2 years. it's all that experience which is adding up.he has been india's most improved player imo. every series he surprises me in a good way. he is genuinely fast. he has the skills no indian bowler has shown in a long time.

 

[street cricketer]

We got demolished at Adelaide and Sydney but Indian bowlers actually outbowled the Australian pacers in dismissing the top and middle order at Brisbane and Melbourne. The stats will be a bit distorted due to Smith's Bradmanesque form in the series. But apart from him, the rest weren't as consistent. Warner played 2 brilliant knocks in the first and the last match but generally wasn't as consistent as Smith. Rogers was consistent with his 50s but didn't kick on to make big scores.

Australia were 240/6 at Brisbane and 210/5 (then 320/6) at MCG in their first innings. Where we lost in dismissing the Australian lower order cheaply. Johnson came at 240/6 at the Gabba and was sledged by Rohit Sharma. He promptly went on belt our bowlers to all parts making some 70 odd helping Australia reach 500+. Again a similar case at Melbourne with Harris playing Johnson's role making another 70 odd with Johnson himself chipping in with a 30 odd score again helping Australia reach a 500+ score in their first innings. Unless our bowlers are clinical and bowl out Australia for under 350 or 370 at max, the chances of winning against them at home are very low.

I think we have a decent pace attack atm. Shami is a bowler who can be trusted to perform in Australia. I have seen Yadav make very good improvement in his line and length, and although his figures may not indicate it, he troubled the English batsmen and beat their bat quite frequently with fielders spilling the chances created. Anyway it's one thing bowling in India while it's different bowling in Australia. Ishant has become a consistent workhorse which is a good thing. Bhuvi will be useless on most current Australian tracks with his pace and height due to their flatness.

If we receive tracks similar to the ones in the Aus-SA series, I would go with an attack of Shami/Yadav/Bhuvi/Pandya/Ashwin.

If we receive tracks similar to the ones in the Aus-Pak series (which is far likely), I would go with Shami/Yadav/Ishant/Ashwin/Jaddu. Bhuvi will be useless if we receive roads where we will need hit the deck bowlers and Jaddu to bowl dry and create pressure.

Anyway, you need 3 good pacers to win in Australia. Shami is good. Yadav and Ishant are decent, but not great. Our success in Australia depends on the 2nd and 3rd pacer.

 

[cricketfanfirst]

If we have pitches like we had for England series, then Australians will definitely give a fight this time.

If we have pitches like we had for SA series, then Australians will be destroyed...

So, in my view, it would all depend on the pitches, I think the pitches this time would be similar to like we had for England.

 

[Hasan123]

If Australia get pitches like England got they can post some good scores. Problem is they don't have the spin attack to cause India problems. Hoping for a good series but got a feeling it's gonna be one sided with India too strong for the Aussies.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Can they play spin on those spin paradises? NO.

Australia is gonna get whipped there. But it's normal these days as every team playing home suddenly becomes a lion in this era of cricket.

 

[Tridibans_16]

We got demolished at Adelaide and Sydney but Indian bowlers actually outbowled the Australian pacers in dismissing the top and middle order at Brisbane and Melbourne. The stats will be a bit distorted due to Smith's Bradmanesque form in the series. But apart from him, the rest weren't as consistent. Warner played 2 brilliant knocks in the first and the last match but generally wasn't as consistent as Smith. Rogers was consistent with his 50s but didn't kick on to make big scores.

Australia were 240/6 at Brisbane and 210/5 (then 320/6) at MCG in their first innings. Where we lost in dismissing the Australian lower order cheaply. Johnson came at 240/6 at the Gabba and was sledged by Rohit Sharma. He promptly went on belt our bowlers to all parts making some 70 odd helping Australia reach 500+. Again a similar case at Melbourne with Harris playing Johnson's role making another 70 odd with Johnson himself chipping in with a 30 odd score again helping Australia reach a 500+ score in their first innings. Unless our bowlers are clinical and bowl out Australia for under 350 or 370 at max, the chances of winning against them at home are very low.

I think we have a decent pace attack atm. Shami is a bowler who can be trusted to perform in Australia. I have seen Yadav make very good improvement in his line and length, and although his figures may not indicate it, he troubled the English batsmen and beat their bat quite frequently with fielders spilling the chances created. Anyway it's one thing bowling in India while it's different bowling in Australia. Ishant has become a consistent workhorse which is a good thing. Bhuvi will be useless on most current Australian tracks with his pace and height due to their flatness.

If we receive tracks similar to the ones in the Aus-SA series, I would go with an attack of Shami/Yadav/Bhuvi/Pandya/Ashwin.

If we receive tracks similar to the ones in the Aus-Pak series (which is far likely), I would go with Shami/Yadav/Ishant/Ashwin/Jaddu. Bhuvi will be useless if we receive roads where we will need hit the deck bowlers and Jaddu to bowl dry and create pressure.

Anyway, you need 3 good pacers to win in Australia. Shami is good. Yadav and Ishant are decent, but not great. Our success in Australia depends on the 2nd and 3rd pacer.

Well said. In 2018-19 (Our next Aussie tour), Shami, Yadav, Ishant/ Kumar will form a nice little pace attack. Fingers crossed that Yadav will learn not to spray around by then. He actually has the pace and surprise short ball if he avoids his trademark short and wide stuff.

 

[volcyz]

Australia will be destroyed.

Only Warner, Smith and Handscomb will be making good runs others will be sitting ducks.

Especially Renshaw... If Shaun Marsh plays then he may make a few... But he's so out of form it's hard to say.
Except the Indian batsmen to grind the pathetic Aus attack down to dust.

 

[JaDed]

Depends on the pitches we can't afford to give them Rajkot/Chennai types.

 

[soso_killer]

If they get similar pitches to that of England they might just, just stand a chance.
But can they take twenty Indian wickets? I'm not surre

 

[Buffet]

they will do much worse than English team. If they were whitewashed by us and Mathews Sri Lankan team then I have no hope for them. They will be eaten alive by Ashwin and Jadeja on a turning pitch. Aus bowlers should get ready for bowling more than 2 sessions in an innings.

How about if they get the pitches Eng got. I expect Aus to do better in that scenario.

 

[Varun]

Logic suggests that India should pocket this series 4-0 barring weather, but remember how everybody similarly wrote off England in 2012 after they were whitewashed in the UAE, only drew in Lanka, and were beaten at home by South Africa?

Australia can thrive without the weight of any expectations and may - in a best case scenario - go on to draw a game or two, and even win one if they are lucky and if we drop the ball.

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

2004 tour of India, Nagpur test Vidarbha cricket association (under Shashank Manohar current ICC Chairman) rolled out a grassy wicket for the Aussies as a revenge vs Dalmia group then ruling BCCI.

I wouldn't be surprised if the officials thrown out by our Supreme Court, gang up to use a similar strategy to see us getting defeated in the upcoming series. Will put SC appointed board officials under pressure and turn public opinion against court interference.

 

[Pantani]

Not a chance. 4-0 to India, with at least two innings defeats or 200+ run wins.

 

[Thivagar]

Not a chance.

 

[EliteCynical]

After the Eng series, TBH there is pressure on India to whitewash Aus convincingly. Not sure it would be that easy. Cricket is a funny game.

 

[Bewal Express]

The Aussie bowling will be torn to shreds, it is decent in What I call European conditions but on those slow, low tracks they will be crying for mercy. The batting will go ok, but if Warner doesn't get runs, they will fail to put the Indians under pressure. The other variable is the toss, but unless you score 600, batting first, you are nowhere near safe in the 2nd innings. Ind to win 3-0.

 

[street cricketer]

Australia might have had its struggles in the past in asia, but you never ever underestimate an Australian side.

 

[Chrish]

They most definitely can and will

 

[Sin Nombre]

Australia will do well if they get the same tracks as England. 1-2 at best and 0-3 at worst, no whitewash.

Australia will get massacred if they get similar tracks to the ones in SL.

 

[Justcrazy]

It will be very tough for Aussies . They need to score really well in the first innings.

In bowling , there spinners have to make sure they keep it tight.

 

[Napa]

Lol Australia were never in jaws of defeat in that match. It was ALWAYS an unlikely chase no matter how close India got

India were 205 for two at the end of the second session, left with only 158 to protect in at least 37 overs after tea. The odds favored India at that point.

 

[R0H1T]

Much has changed since last time. SL pitches were rank turners (almost all of them started turning from day 1). Expect Indian pitches to be flatter. Also, Indian batting is still young and untested. Rahane is out of form. Kohli had a great last year but can't always expect him to score hundreds. Vijay seems to be a one innings wonder every series. If Pujara starts to get going, I expect India to comfortably win otherwise the matches will be lot closer than the ENG series.

Believe it or not Indians always up their game when playing Australia, they bring out the best & the worst (in terms of behavior) in our players. Barring the 2011 debacle & the 2013 reverse sweep, generally India/Aus series have been ultra competitive, not unlike Ind/SA tussles, so you can expect more than one player to perform for India.

England haven't been our bogey team in as much as we'd like to give them credit for, the last loss was solely on the shoulders of Dhoni IMO where he picked a defensive squad for the third test & did his usual not out heroics/antics in the last two tests, when we were never really in the game.

I expect Vijay/Pujara/Rahane/Rahul/Ashwin/Jadeja to come good against Aus. Though some of them may not repeat their performance from the England series, but generally speaking more of our players perform well against Australia than say England or even South Africa, since that 2001 coup d'état.

 

[Sin Nombre]

India were 205 for two at the end of the second session, left with only 158 to protect in at least 37 overs after tea. The odds favored India at that point.

They did not, just like they didn't for Pakistan at the Gabba. Wickets always fall in a heap on the last day which is why the big 4th innings chase is so rare.

 

[English August]

No. Aus has beaten India in India only once in last 30+ years -- in 2004. That was an ATG Aus team with an attack that included McGrath and Gillespie. In addition, due to internal politics within BCCI, at Nagpur they were served a pitch that was custom-made for Aussie quicks.

Not going to happen this time.

 

[leatherface58]

Smith will be the key but if he gets no support and the bowlers underwhelm, much like Clarke, he too will start failing. No chance of a series win but Australia might compete for a test or two.

 

[Bilal7]

No chance. It's going to be a whitewash, with two defeats coming by an innings and runs. They're awful in Asia.

South Africa had the best chance on traditional Indian pitches but were sabotaged by some diabolical tracks. England had the best chance on rank turners but they were given traditional Indian pitches and capitulated (not after taking some shine off Ashwin though). Australia will be beaten heavily on whatever pitches India prepare for them.

The only thing that remains to be seen is how the highly rated Smith does in India and which direction his average of 60 takes.

 

[joly]

If India keeps dishing out sedate wickets like in ENG series, AUS may win one or two, give the ones that will turn and bounce and the series will be over within 15 days OnField play

 

[Statsman]

No chance. It's going to be a whitewash, with two defeats coming by an innings and runs. They're awful in Asia.

South Africa had the best chance on traditional Indian pitches but were sabotaged by some diabolical tracks. England had the best chance on rank turners but they were given traditional Indian pitches and capitulated (not after taking some shine off Ashwin though). Australia will be beaten heavily on whatever pitches India prepare for them.

The only thing that remains to be seen is how the highly rated Smith does in India and which direction his average of 60 takes.

So England had its best chance on rank turners?

From "India will dish out rank turners to defeat England" to this. Wow. You keep flip flopping.

England got demolished by Bangladesh on rank turners. They were lucky to get flat wickets in India. Wouldn't have got even the sole drawn test otherwise.

 

[Perth93]

If you remember the Oz historic victory in India back in 2004-5, it was built around Gilesppie's pacy reverse with great seam support frm mcgrath and kasprowicz. So they CAN win without spin.

But then they need to teach Starc how to bowl in tests first. Hazlewood will be tight but hes no Pigeon.

My only hope is Oz get bold and play just 5 specialist batsmen and use the 3rd pace spot for a swing bowler (a la Gilesppie, Kaspro) like Chadd Sayers or Pattinson.

You need swing to win. Starc is clueless with red cherry.

 

[Mamoon]

No, this team won't even beat England and South Africa in India.

 

[R0H1T]

If you remember the Oz historic victory in India back in 2004-5, it was built around Gilesppie's pacy reverse with great seam support frm mcgrath and kasprowicz. So they CAN win without spin.

But then they need to teach Starc how to bowl in tests first. Hazlewood will be tight but hes no Pigeon.

My only hope is Oz get bold and play just 5 specialist batsmen and use the 3rd pace spot for a swing bowler (a la Gilesppie, Kaspro) like Chadd Sayers or Pattinson.

You need swing to win. Starc is clueless with red cherry.

No SRT in the first two tests, diabolical umpiring in the first test, Patel dropping sitters & missing stumpings, Harbhajan missing Nagpur & of course no Ponting for the first three tests. So virtually everything needs to go in their favor if Australia are to win a series in India, with DRS I'd give it less than 0.1% chance.

 

[Perth93]

@ROH1T, yes and that was the last time that i can recollect a slightly grassy track in India (Nagpur test). This new bcci team seems hell bent to preserve domestic comforts and decks flatter than Trump's toupee.

 

[R0H1T]

@ROH1T, yes and that was the last time that i can recollect a slightly grassy track in India (Nagpur test). This new bcci team seems hell bent to preserve domestic comforts and decks flatter than Trump's toupee.

Probably but we've had the odd track or two that has assisted opposition seamers, 2008 Ahmedabad first session/day then 2012 Kolkata (& 2016) as well. Though to be fair Kolkata always swings, especially in winter/autumn & so it's not that uncommon to see opposition bowlers getting assistance, sometimes massive help like the Ahmedabad track, in India.

The same cannot be said about our hosts away, when was the last time we saw a square turner in Aus/NZ/SA/England ? The point being it's rare to see India sabotage the opposition's chances of winning in India, I'll give SA a pass since they had the worst pitches to contend with, unlike what the opposition would have you believe.

However when we go to turners, not bunsen burners like Mumbai 2004 Nagpur 2015, the poosotion is quick to point that out.

 

[Perth93]

Ok that argument about "why we don't get turners overseas" can be disputed. Becoz even Nagpur 2004 was hardly green compared to global standards, and I was IN Motera watching Steyn destroy India on a bald brown track. So neither was the western equivalent of a "turner". Lets agree to disagree there.

All Im hoping for is that Kohli gets injured preseries, Starc continues his Lanka mojo, and they pick Sayers over Bird, or Patto over both. And maybe just maybe the BCCI will find it tough to pay curators so we will get 5mm grass at a test or two.

The world game needs India to lose its hubris.

 

[Convict]

Is there an ODI component? Because we can win that.

 

[R0H1T]

Ok that argument about "why we don't get turners overseas" can be disputed. Becoz even Nagpur 2004 was hardly green compared to global standards, and I was IN Motera watching Steyn destroy India on a bald brown track. So neither was the western equivalent of a "turner". Lets agree to disagree there.

All Im hoping for is that Kohli gets injured preseries, Starc continues his Lanka mojo, and they pick Sayers over Bird, or Patto over both. And maybe just maybe the BCCI will find it tough to pay curators so we will get 5mm grass at a test or two.

The world game needs India to lose its hubris.

I didn't say Nagpur was a green seaming deck, you said it was grassy so I thought you were suggesting something like that, but it did have more assistance for seamers than what we'd normally see in India & then it was late autumn/early winter so the conditions were already favoring Aus.

The Ahmedabad track had moisture in it in the first session & having seen it on TV (live) I do recall Sreesanth troubling SA as well, even in the second session, with a few catches dropped like Smith's IIRC. Now, if you ignore my hyperbole wrt bunsen burners, how many dry spinning tracks have you seen in these countries I mentioned? The SCG used to have appreciable spin, heck Border picking up a 7fer against WI in the late 80's tells you that blunting the opposition strengths (pace for WI) isn't an India only trait. Yet we are the ones criticized most for it, you don't see the same treatment meted to "in these conditions" les miserables England or any other nation who's supposedly never doctored pitches.

I'd love to see bowlers getting more help from tracks, but then it's very rare that we see appreciation for such "sporting" tracks in India! The same for places like Aus, seeing them roads is depressing & I certainly don't want India giving the England series tracks to Australia.

 

[R0H1T]

The world game needs India to lose its hubris.

Missed this one & don't agree with it too much, though I do hate it when India hides behind the "we'll get you in our home" excuse. The world needs better tracks period, perhaps even neutral pitch curators would help but we do need to change the balance between bat & bowl. Tinkering with some silly rules, like bat size, won't help much when (literally) the underlying problem isn't resolved.

 

[Mainul]

Australia will do worse than England and New Zealand in India.Their team is full of worst players of playing spin on spinning friendly pitches.It will be a tough time for cricket fans to stick on to the TV screen to see this BORING one sided series.

 

[Convict]

I didn't say Nagpur was a green seaming deck, you said it was grassy so I thought you were suggesting something like that, but it did have more assistance for seamers than what we'd normally see in India & then it was late autumn/early winter so the conditions were already favoring Aus.

The Ahmedabad track had moisture in it in the first session & having seen it on TV (live) I do recall Sreesanth troubling SA as well, even in the second session, with a few catches dropped like Smith's IIRC. Now, if you ignore my hyperbole wrt bunsen burners, how many dry spinning tracks have you seen in these countries I mentioned? The SCG used to have appreciable spin, heck Border picking up a 7fer against WI in the late 80's tells you that blunting the opposition strengths (pace for WI) isn't an India only trait. Yet we are the ones criticized most for it, you don't see the same treatment meted to "in these conditions" les miserables England or any other nation who's supposedly never doctored pitches.

I'd love to see bowlers getting more help from tracks, but then it's very rare that we see appreciation for such "sporting" tracks in India! The same for places like Aus, seeing them roads is depressing & I certainly don't want India giving the England series tracks to Australia.

The flat tracks in Australia help touring teams out.

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

Is there an ODI component? Because we can win that.

Only Tests on this leg.

I would expect Aussies to put up a fight for sure . We were thrashed 0-4 in Aus in 2011-12 but then did better in 2014-15. Aussies will similarly improve now with some fresh blood in the team.

 

[R0H1T]

The flat tracks in Australia help touring teams out.

They don't, SA won handsomely in Hobart & England's last Ashes win in 2010/11 was also on the back of helpful tracks. One could always argue that whether Asian teams would be able to make better use of favorable conditions, but generally speaking you'd be hard pressed to argue against this notion.

The Lord's 1983 & 2014 wins for India were also on green decks & I'm sure Australia will try to protect their fragile batting for the foreseeable future, using the tracks to blunt opposition attacks.

 

[JattMaula]

Why Not?

At least they are taking it seriously. CA just pulled O'Keeffe out of BBL to prepare and preserve him for India tour.

 

[Convict]

They don't, SA won handsomely in Hobart & England's last Ashes win in 2010/11 was also on the back of helpful tracks. One could always argue that whether Asian teams would be able to make better use of favorable conditions, but generally speaking you'd be hard pressed to argue against this notion.

The Lord's 1983 & 2014 wins for India were also on green decks & I'm sure Australia will try to protect their fragile batting for the foreseeable future, using the tracks to blunt opposition attacks.

South Africa have won every test series in Australia in the last decade. And again South African conditions are the most similar to Australian.

England beat the weakest Australian side in my life. Nor do we give England flat tracks.

The flat tracks reduce the effectiveness of Australian bowlers against touring batsmen (especially from Asia because the South Africans can handle the bounce).
They are not done to help Australian batsmen but to make sure matches last 5 days.

 

[R0H1T]

South Africa have won every test series in Australia in the last decade. And again South African conditions are the most similar to Australian.

England beat the weakest Australian side in my life. Nor do we give England flat tracks.

The flat tracks reduce the effectiveness of Australian bowlers against touring batsmen (especially from Asia because the South Africans can handle the bounce).
They are not done to help Australian batsmen but to make sure matches last 5 days.

And yet they've won three tests, on the trot, on the fastest pitch in Aus, one on a (slightly) helpful MCG track in 2008 & the last one on an green deck in Hobart. They've lost in SCG & have failed to win in Adelaide & Gabba IIRC, the first two being slower than Perth.

I'd say this is the worst Aussie side (before the changes in Adelaide) I've ever seen in my lifetime of watching cricket, 20+ years, after having witnessed their numerous collapses in England, SL & against SA.

The Aussie side, since late 90's led by Waugh, has always relied on scoreboard pressure. They've always excelled as a team when their batters have done well, in that time I don't recall more than 3 exceptional test bowlers doing well in Aussie conditions (though mainly because of flat surfaces) but they've had 5-8 batters (including someone like an MJ in the last Ashes down under) do exceptionally well in that time. Not unlike India, you are a side who relies heavily on batters.

You could use that argument both ways, but since the 2010/11 Ashes I've seen more Aussie batting collapses than any of the other top 5 test teams. I'm going with the former, lasting five days is just a happy consequence.

 

[Perth93]

I didn't say Nagpur was a green seaming deck, you said it was grassy so I thought you were suggesting something like that, but it did have more assistance for seamers than what we'd normally see in India & then it was late autumn/early winter so the conditions were already favoring Aus.

The Ahmedabad track had moisture in it in the first session & having seen it on TV (live) I do recall Sreesanth troubling SA as well, even in the second session, with a few catches dropped like Smith's IIRC. Now, if you ignore my hyperbole wrt bunsen burners, how many dry spinning tracks have you seen in these countries I mentioned? The SCG used to have appreciable spin, heck Border picking up a 7fer against WI in the late 80's tells you that blunting the opposition strengths (pace for WI) isn't an India only trait. Yet we are the ones criticized most for it, you don't see the same treatment meted to "in these conditions" les miserables England or any other nation who's supposedly never doctored pitches.

I'd love to see bowlers getting more help from tracks, but then it's very rare that we see appreciation for such "sporting" tracks in India! The same for places like Aus, seeing them roads is depressing & I certainly don't want India giving the England series tracks to Australia.

Rohit, thing is, cricket was meant to be played on bowler friendly tracks.

If you remember 2004-5, mumbai offered the most exciting test. Im ok with rank turners like we laid out for Saffas last winter. If steyn n philander were around, we would have lost.


These flat tracks like the ones we had for eng will only help India.

Ckt is about bowling and testing batsmen, either lets have greentops or turners but not these flat manchesters.

 

[R0H1T]

Rohit, thing is, cricket was meant to be played on bowler friendly tracks.

If you remember 2004-5, mumbai offered the most exciting test. Im ok with rank turners like we laid out for Saffas last winter. If steyn n philander were around, we would have lost.


These flat tracks like the ones we had for eng will only help India.

Ckt is about bowling and testing batsmen, either lets have greentops or turners but not these flat manchesters.

We probably could've lost, however there's no concrete evidence to suggest that Steyn's absence lost them the opening game in Mohali. As for the rest of the series your guess is just as good as mine, but I'll add that it'd be disingenuous to state that they'd have won for sure if Steyn/Philander were playing.

I don't think so, it'll get us back to our 90's habit of winning at home & winning big. We need our batters tested more often, even when playing at home.

 

[jeetu]

Australia has to find some way to counter All-round ability of India spin trio. As we saw from England series 400 in first inning is just not enough. Australia needs to be lucky with toss and then pile up atleast 550. In second inning i am not expecting Australia batting to last long.

 

[RamLakhan]

I think Australia will come up with some preparation and surprise us!

 

[jeetu]

I think Australia will come up with some preparation and surprise us!

My best would be shock and awe with Australian batsman being overly aggressive in second inning forcing Virat to go defensive. Not sure it will work though.

 

[Asim2Good]

Just to remind Indians, we beat Aus couple of years back with bowling attack of
Rahat ali
Imran khan
Hafeez
Zuliqar Babar
Yasir shah
In both tests

 

[JattMaula]

Just to remind Indians, we beat Aus couple of years back with bowling attack of
Rahat ali
Imran khan
Hafeez
Zuliqar Babar
Yasir shah
In both tests

So Pakistan really missed Hafeez and Zulfiqar on this aussie tour eh?

 

[RamLakhan]

no i would absolutely stick with them because the efforts of our coaching staff are just starting to pay off. you seem too ready to right them off.

Ishant is just 28. has been in the team since 22. has been asked to lead attacks when he wasn't ready. offers a unique set of skills. we have put too much into ishant to abandon him at the age of 28, right when he has the best chance to put it all together.

Yadav has come a long way in the last 2 years. it's all that experience which is adding up.he has been india's most improved player imo. every series he surprises me in a good way. he is genuinely fast. he has the skills no indian bowler has shown in a long time.

Exactly right! This is how we should develop Indian Pacers! We need to persist with them if they show some skills and form. We can't set huge standards for them (like we do with our batsmen and spinners). Likewise if Australia went with same logic then Shane Warne wouldn't have gone on and become a legend (he had poor start to his international career, I can remember his first test series against India!) We are certainly not expecting a legend out of our seamers! Similarly all those non-Asian teams are not expecting their spinners to be superior and compete with Ashwin/Jadeja! They just want them to be decent and do their job! Just that we should detect those really hopeless guys and discard them at early stages (Ishanth did show a lot of promise at the start of his career!) People like Warne and Kapil emerged from their country in such a special way because they hailed from completely opposite conditions! But we cannot expect these types to appear every year!

 

[Cricket World]

We badly missed off spinner for sure

 

[Moh@n]

Hahahahahaha

It will be a bloodbath

I can't wait to see Usman Khwaja and Warner being made to look like mugs

Three of the four venues (Pune, Ranchi and Dharamshala) will be hosting a test match for the first time, so nobody knows how those pitches will behave. The fourth venue (Bangalore) will be flat as a road, so it will most likely not produce a result.

I honestly don't see 4-0 happening.

 

[KhalidRafi]

I think Australia are heading for a minimum 3-0...if they are lucky. Batsmen like Khawaja will be walking wickets on those pitches and I honestly don't see their spinners doing much damage either.
Only Australian batsman who will succeed is Smith.

 

[wrongun]

When we had our ATG sides we were competitive in India. We lost a cracking series in 2001, we won another classic series in 2004 but all those series had moments which could go either way. We had by far our strongest and most talented batting lineups of the modern era, dripping with Oz greats and even ATG's.
We had McGrath, Gillespie & Warne in our attack.

Our current lineup just isn't anywhere near as good. If we are competitive it will be because someone plays so well it lifts their career to a new level (Warner into Hayden, Smith into Waugh, Lyon into a genuinely respected spinner in all conditions, Hazlewood's McGrath in the WI moment) but they'll all have to do it at the same time on the same tour. It would be the stuff of legend.

But it's not what I expect to happen. I suspect India to win 3:1, 2:1 at the closest if we play well and weather/a flat track comes in somewhere.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Flat wickets - I'd actually give OZ the edge
Spinning wicket - no chance for OZ. It will be a complete demolition.

 

[omer28]

lol joke

This australian team will not only lose all the matches , they will be beaten comprehensively , atleast 2 matches by an innings defeat . starc and hazlewood most likely will not play all the tests . They will be sent home after getting injured in 3 test matches . If a team like england struggled in india , australia will be decimated . In My opinion england is a very well balanced team .

 

[Abdullah719]

Yes, they can.