5 Indian players who could be on their last tour to Australia 

The much awaited India tour of Australia is almost here. The tour will begin from November 21, 2018, and will go on till 18th January. India and Australia will be playing three ODIs, four Tests, and three T20Is in this tour Down Under. The tour will begin with three T20Is, followed by the Tests with the ODI series being played in the last.

The last time when India toured Australia for a four-match Test series that saw the former Indian captain MS Dhoni hung up his boots from Test cricket, the visitors lost the series 2-0, with the first two Tests being won by the hosts and the remaining resulting in draws.

Later in December 2015, the Indian team again toured Australia for 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is. While the home team won the ODI series by 4-1, the visitors whitewashed the hosts in T20I series.

When India tour Australia next, most probably after four years, some of the players who are currently in Australia might be missing from the team. So, let us now take a look at five such cricketers who could be touring Australia for the one last time with the Indian cricket team.

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#5 Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay had been one of the backbones of the Indian batting in the longer format of the game until 2017. But the elegant opener has been struggling since then in the international cricket.

Vijay failed to score a single fifty in his last 10 innings. His batting woes got worsened when India toured England this year as he managed to score just 26 runs in 4 innings at an awful average of 6.5. He has also recorded a pair in the second Test at Lord's before being dropped from the squad.

However, on the back of some impressive performances in the county cricket, the 34-year-old has regained his spot in the team for the coming Australia tour. Though he has made it to the squad, yet he might have to compete with Prithvi Shaw for his spot in the team.

But with Prithvi Shaw already taking giant strides in international cricket and the team management backing Rahul as he has age on his back, it might well be a herculean task for Vijay to find a place in the team next time when India tour down under.

The right-handed opener has thus far scored 3933 and 339 runs in the 59 Tests and 17 ODIs respectively with the help of 12 tons and 16 half-centuries in both formats combined

#4 Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin has been leading the Indian spin attack for more than 7 years. The fastest Indian bowler to take 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 Test wickets, has not been at his best in the recent past in all formats of the game.

Owing to his poor run of form, he has lost his place in the limited overs format. And his returns in the longer format of the game has not been that good either as the off-spinner has managed to scalp only 87 wickets from the 20 Tests that he has played in 2017-18.

The emergence of Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal has already seen him sidelined in ODIs and T20Is. Now with Jadeja slowly getting into the groove and the other young spinners rising in the ranks in Test cricket, Ashwin who is currently 33 years old, might not save his place in the team next time when India tour Australia after around 3 to 4 years.

The Tamil Nadu born cricketer has thus far scored in excess of 3000 runs with the bat and mustered 538 wickets with the ball in all formats combined.

#3 Parthiv Patel

Parthiv Patel

Parthiv Patel became the youngest wicketkeeper to play Test cricket when he made his debut back in 2002. However, owing to his poor show behind the stumps and the emergence of MS Dhoni, he was not considered for a few games in 2004. Since then, Parthiv has been in and out of the Indian cricket team.

Now with Rishabh Pant almost grabbing the keeper’s slot in the longer format, there is a little probability of Parthiv getting chances after 3 to 4 years. When he last toured Australia back in 2004, the southpaw scored 160 runs at an average of 32 in four Tests.

The wicketkeeper-batsman from Gujarat has thus far played 25 Tests and 38 ODIs in his career, scoring 936 and 734 runs respectively. The 33-year-old wicketkeeper has also affected 112 dismissals behind the stumps so far in his stop-start career.

#2 Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik

It has been around 14 years since Dinesh Karthik made his international debut. In his international career of around a decade and a half, Karthik has hardly featured in international games in Australia.

The Tamil Nadu cricketer has just managed to play a solitary T20I game in 2008 under the leadership of MS Dhoni. Now the wicket-keeper batsman is a part of India's T20Is squad that is touring Australia.

Though he was tested for the number four spot in ODIs, the 33-year-old did not make the best use of those opportunities and subsequently, he lost that place to Ambati Rayudu. Now with Rishabh Pant almost cementing his spot behind the stumps, India might not need Dinesh Karthik's services after four years.

Karthik has thus far played 24 Tests, 84 ODIs and 22 T20Is scoring 1025, 1663 and 300 runs respectively and affecting 142 dismissals in all formats combined.

#1 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni

The former Indian captain has been facing a lot of criticism in recent times due to his poor form. In 2018, the quintessential wicketkeeper-batsman has managed to score only 272 runs at an average of 25.00 runs in 13 innings with 42* against South Africa being his highest.

Now it is almost certain that Dhoni is on his last Australia tour as he might announce retirement after the ICC Cricket World Cup in England next year. So, it would be highly optimistic for anyone to expect Dhoni to play after four years.

When India toured Australia in 2014-15, the Ranchi-born cricketer hung his boots from the longer format of the game following India's poor show.

The legendary cricketer has thus far played 90 Tests, 332 ODIs and 93 T20Is scoring around 16000 runs in all formats combined. He has recently crossed the magic figure of 10000-mark in ODIs.