3 player battles to watch out for in the Australia-West Indies Test series

West Indies are set to tour Australia for the first time since the summer of 2015-16. The Aussies beat the Windies 2-0 in a three-match Test series then, with Adam Voges starring as the main man for the hosts.

Since then, West Indies have declined considerably in the five-day format. Australia, on the other hand, have been consistently good at home with the exception of the two series (2018-19, 2020-21) against India.

This series is extremely important for the Aussies, who will look to make it to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). They stand first on the points table with 70 percentage of points, while West Indies are virtually out of the race with 50 percentage of points and tough fixtures still left to be played.

In this article, we look at three potential player battles that will be exciting to watch in the Australia-West Indies Test rubber.

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#1 David Warner vs Kemar Roach

Australian opener David Warner has finally brought an end to his international century drought in the recently concluded ODI series against England. Kemar Roach remains one of the pivotal bowlers of the West Indies pace battery.

Warner has scored 121 runs against Roach in seven Tests and has been dismissed thrice. If the Windies are to pull an upset, they will have to rely on their star pacer to get rid of the flamboyant southpaw early in the innings.

Two of the three dismissals came way back in 2012, which was when Warner was still making strides in Test cricket. If Roach can spice things up a bit, we could be in for thrilling contests.

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#2 Usman Khawaja vs Jason Holder

Usman Khawaja's comeback in Test cricket has been one of the best in recent times for Australian cricket. As an opener, the left-hander has truly redeemed himself after getting the opportunity. He has scored 888 runs in 13 innings at an average of 99 - scoring four centuries and three half-centuries.

Jason Holder remains the lynchpin of the West Indian Test team. He has consistently contributed with both the bat and ball, giving some semblance to an otherwise struggling unit. He is ranked fifth in the ICC Men's Test player rankings for all-rounders.

Khawaja scored 22 runs against Holder and was dismissed once. The battle took place in the 2015 tour. The Australian batter took him on for a couple of boundaries but Holder had the last laugh, as Khawaja nicked one to the keeper.

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#3 Kraigg Brathwaite vs Josh Hazlewood

Kraigg Brathwaite is definitely the most crucial batsman for West Indies in this format. He also leads the Windies in the longest format. He has often stepped up for his team in difficult scenarios. In the last two years, he has accumulated 1166 runs at an average of 43. This is highly impressive for an opener batting on challenging surfaces.

Josh Hazlewood, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the best pacers in the Test arena in recent years. His consistency with line and length is what makes him so difficult to face. Over the last three years, he has taken 53 wickets at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 54. His economy rate of 2.56 is also highly impressive.

Brathwaite has scored 57 runs against the Australian speedster in 137 deliveries across five Tests, having been dismissed thrice. However, in the final Test of the last tour, the West Indies opener took on Hazlewood.

He scored 28 runs and was not dismissed off him. Braithwaite ended up scoring 85 runs in the innings. He will have to play out Hazlewood if West Indies are to set competitive totals.