5 reasons why Australia might defeat India in the Test series

The Indian team is all set to play its first Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval from the 6th of December. The hosts will miss the services of their most experienced players in David Warner and Steve Smith as the duo along with Cameron Bancroft has been banned from playing cricket due to the infamous ball tampering incident. This series will be the golden opportunity for the Indian team to finally defeat Australia on the Australian soil.

India and Australia won 1 game each in the recently-concluded T20I series and shared the trophy. Virat Kohli's men are now playing a practice match against Cricket Australia's XI ahead of the much-awaited Test series. However, the Indian team should not get complacent just yet as the Australian team still has the firepower to defeat India in the series.

Here are 5 reasons why the Aussies might lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 4 years:

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#1 The Indian batsmen have failed to tackle the foreign spinners

Nathan Lyon will be Australia's primary spinner

The first and foremost reason why India have failed to win an overseas Test series is the batsmen's inability to read the spinners. Even in the last Test series in England, a part-time off-spinner like Moeen Ali ripped apart the Indian batting line-up. Moeen Ali picked up 12 Indian wickets in just 2 matches and helped England win the series.

If you remember the 2014-15 series between India and Australia, you may recall that it was not Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Johnson who won Australia the matches. It was their off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon scalped 12 wickets in the Adelaide Test itself and troubled the Indian batsman a lot. India's problems with the spin have continued to persist ever since the departure of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

#2 The absence of Hardik Pandya may hurt India's balance

Hardik Pandya

The Baroda all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been out of action ever since he was injured. He was not a part of the Indian team that played the Windies and is also missing from the Indian Test squad for the Australian tour. The hard hitting all-rounder used to provide the much-needed balance in the playing XI of the Indian team as he could play well in both the departments.

Hardik had always scored vital runs for India down the order and had also given the team some much needed breakthroughs with his medium pace. The current Indian squad has the likes of Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja who may not been efficient replacements for Pandya. While Jadeja has played in Australia earlier, it is the first tour to Australia for newbie Hanuma Vihari.

#3 Inexperience behind the stumps

The Indian team needs a wicket-keeper who can bat well and not a batsman who can keep wickets

Wriddhiman Saha, who was the team's go-to wicket-keeper after Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has been sidelined from international cricket. The Bengal wicket-keeper possesses the best wicket-keeping skills and can keep wickets well irrespective of the playing conditions. But, looking at the current Indian squad, it seems like Rishabh Pant will don the gloves in the first Test.

Pant had leaked 76 runs in the form of byes when the Indian team last played a Test series out of the sub-continent, which, in a way, hurt India's momentum. The Australian pitches are known to have more amount of pace and bounce and the wicket-keeping skills of Pant will be tested.

There is no shadow of doubt that Pant is one of the best Indian batsmen who can keep wickets as well but in order to win Tests overseas, the Indian team needs a wicket-keeper who can bat well and not a batsman who can keep wickets.

#4 India's inability to wrap up the tail

India should fear Mitchell Starc, the batsman more than Mitchell Starc, the bowler

Let me reveal an astonishing statistic from the last India vs Australia series (played in Australia). Mitchell Starc had a batting average of 52.00 and not only that, Mitchell Johnson had scored only 2 runs less than Michael Clarke in the entire series. This all point us towards India's weakness in the bowling attack. The bowlers have been able to dismiss the top order batsmen but when it comes to wrapping up the opposition tail, the Indian bowlers have failed miserably.

The same was witnessed in the earlier series against England where Sam Curran led England's charge in the lower order and got support from Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and James Anderson. To win the Test series, India should prepare a strategy to dismiss the Australian tail quickly since they were one of the key reasons why Australia won the last 4-match series in Australia.

#5 India's unsorted batting order

Will KL Rahul open the innings? Where will Rohit Sharma bat?

Ahead of the first Test of the series, we do not know who will open the innings for India at Adelaide. The Indian squad has Prithvi Shaw, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma as potential openers. While Prithvi and Vijay seem to be the perfect choice, Vijay was recently dropped from the Test team due to his poor form which might tempt the Indian team management to give Rohit Sharma or KL Rahul a chance at the top.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are the only batsmen who have cemented their positions in the batting order. It will be interesting to see whether Rohit is given a place in the team or will Hanuma Vihari play his 2nd Test match.

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