Australia just lost their seventh consecutive ODI match away from home but there is something to be worrying them more than that. When you look at the next fixture for Australia, one cannot blame them. Australia are scheduled to play four test matches in India between Feb 23-Mar 29 It was one thing to play India away and another to lock horns with them in their own homeground.
A lot of talk has been done well before the start
of the big series and even the mind games have began. Australia's recent record in the subcontinent has been
underwhelming as well.Just three victories from 20 Tests played since
2005(including two of those in Bangladesh more than a decade ago) and only two
batsmen in the current squad with a Test average above 40 in Asian conditions
[Skipper Steve Smith (41.57 from 7 matches) and Shaun Marsh (78.6 from 3
matches)]. While captain Smith has
made himself sound positive and asked his in form David Warner to attack the
Indian bowlers, the latter's record in Asia is not so encouraging with just one
century in 9 Test matches averaging 33.17.
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| The performances of Nathan Lyon, Steven Smith and David Warner will define the outcome for Australia's upcoming away series © Getty Images |
The last time the team from down under played in
the subcontinent they were handed a humiliating 0-3 defeat by a little known
Sri Lankan side. Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who scored four centuries and six half-centuries in
his 22 Tests in Asia between 2005 and 2012, even went on to
say "If you can’t play spin, don’t
even go." Pietersen warned the habit of ‘planting’ the front
foot as is often practiced by Australian batsman was a recipe for
disaster.
By the looks of things it does seem that India hold
the edge which they definitely do but it is not as bleak as it is made to look
after all. If you look at the record even a draw was considered priceless in
India for a visiting team until 2004 when the legendary Australian team went
against the usual tide of favoring the spinners in India and beat India in
India with their pace attack. What the then Australian team did was to forget
about the conditions and play according to their strength and rest is
history.
The current team needs to do just that. If you have
a look at the team, they have similar bowling prowess to the team in 2004; a
tall seamer with nagging line and length in Hazlewood, and world class bowler in
Starc, another fast bowler is doesn't generate much pace but is very effective
in Bird all supported a nagging spinner in Lyon. While they might not be
McGraths, the Gillespies and the Warnes they certainly have the skill in them
this is why one might think they have one too many spinner in their squad
(Australia have picked four specialist spinners for the tour).
Another interesting aspect is the pitches in India
nowadays is no where near to the turners dished out to the visitors in 2004.
Furthermore, the current crop of Indian batsmen while being good at playing
spin are not as dexterous at playing on turning wickets as their predecessors
nor do they have the temperament to bat out for days barring one or two
players. This should work in Australia's favor and they try putting the
pressure on the Indian batsmen by not giving away easy runs. It might get the
batsmen playing a false shot and getting out.
Talking about temperament, wicket keeping is not a
cakewalk for a visiting team which was evident by the hard time that Bairstow
had behind the wicket. Like the batsmen, the keepers also need to adjust to the
bounce of the pitch. This is where Peter Neville could have come in handy
despite Matthew Wade's good form since the former is a much better gloveman.
Neville's good run of form before the injury and his determined batting ability
would have been an added bonus as the pressure might creep on very easily to
the players of aggressive nature which Wade is.
Indian spinners on the other hand are way too good
to hit out on their pitches and if Australian batsmen like Warner as guided by
his captain goes for all out attack, they might end up facing down the barrel
quick fast. Australia need to take a leaf out of New Zealand and England who
recently toured India. India did won both the series but they had their fair
share of troubles chalking up the wins. If you look closely one can see that
New Zealand spinners had India in trouble by drying up the runs which often led
to batsman playing a wrong shot and getting out. What was common about visiting
teams though was that both the teams played with temperament and was looking to
play risk free cricket for long hours while not choking up one end.
So the key for Australia's success in India is that
they should play to their strength. The bowlers should dry out the runs and the
batsmen should play risk free cricket without trying anything fancy. All in all
it will be a test of temperament for both batsmen and bowlers in India.
Squad for Australia Tour of
India 2017
India
Squad not
announced
Australia
Steven Smith(c), David Warner, Matt
Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Steve
O'Keefe, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Shaun
Marsh, Jackson Bird, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton
Agar, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc
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