3 Reasons why this is India’s best opportunity to win a Test series in Australia

What happened in Cape Town, which is more famously called ‘The Sandpaper gate’ shook the world of cricket. The credibility of Australia as a cricketing nation was questioned. The banned trio Steven Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft are still serving their terms for having carried out that act.

Post that, under a new captain-coach combination in Tim Paine-Justin Langer, Australia are certainly a weakened side looking to reclaim the #1 spot in the ICC Test rankings and are a country who have changed the way they operate on field in a bid to regain the love and support of the cricket loving public across the globe.

This would be the first home series as captain for Tim Paine and he would know that a daunting task lies ahead of him. He can take immense confidence from the marvelous mental strength displayed by his side in tiring conditions of Dubai to pull off a fabulous draw. The architect of that performance- Usman Khawaja and their bowling attack( Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood, Patt Cummins, Nathan Lyon, and Peter Siddle) would be Australia’s biggest strengths.

India, on the other hand, finds themselves in a rather unique position. They are ranked #1 in the ICC Test rankings and are outright favorites to win this series against a weaker Australian side. India are fresh off a convincing drubbing of a hapless Windies at home and were extremely competitive and came close to beating South Africa and England in their home conditions.

Virat Kohli’s men will head into this test series knowing that this is their best opportunity ever to win a test series down-under, something no under Indian team has managed to do yet. Here’s looking at why India can win this test series starting from December 6th, 2018 at the Adelaide Oval:

Australia’s inexperience, India’s experience

This squad that will face off against India would rank as amongst the least experienced sides to play in a home summer. Post the ball-tampering scandal that left players who formed the core of their Test team in recent times- Steven Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft banned, Australia haven’t been able to find batsmen who can step in those big shoes.

It's incredibly hard to fill into the big shoes of Steven Smith and David Warner as not only are they world-class batsmen who can win matches single-handedly, they were the captain and vice-captain respectively prior to them serving bans.

Australia’s batting order possess some big names like Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, and Travis Head. But against this Indian bowling line-up which has a lot of options and abundance of skill, it would be a real daunting challenge.

On the other hand, India have a 18 member squad which is high on experience of having played in Australia earlier, which is a big factor considering the conditions and the bowlers they would be up against.

Players like Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara have all played a test series in Australia before. Bowlers like Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin have played down-under twice already. This is one of the biggest reasons why India are considered strong favorites to win this series.

It would certainly be interesting to see how these players use their experience when the Test series starts. Going by the tour game that India played recently, it certainly would give them more optimism as their Test match regulars like Vijay, Rahane and Pujara came good.

A complete batting line-up led by an in-form Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli- The pillar of India's batting line-up

India’s batting certainly seems to have all bases covered. In Murali Vijay and KL Rahul, they have two established, accomplished batsmen to open the batting. KL Rahul has been very inconsistent but with Prithvi Shaw out due to injury, this series would end being a make or break for KL Rahul.

The middle-order comprising of the ever-impressive skipper Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane should offer stability and be able to counter the Aussie bowlers well once they get their eyes in. The lower middle order promises to provide the thrills with the likes of Rohit Sharma/ Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant.

This series is billed as a series between the might of the Aussie bowling in home conditions against a talented, solid Indian batting. It would be really intriguing to see if the other batsmen have learnt from their mistakes on recent tours to South Africa and England.

The fact remains that India’s batting on paper is more potent and strong compared to Australia. But if only the leader of the pack, Virat Kohli does all the talking with the bat then it would play into the hands of the Aussies.

Batsmen of the talent of Vijay, Rahul, Rahane and Pujara should play their part well for India to surge ahead in their mission to win their first Test series down-under.

India’s bowlers who can win the series on their own merit

Kuldeep Yadav- The Surprise element?

It’s very rare to see an Indian contingent coming to Australia with such a strong bowling attack. The Indian attack in the 2003/2004, 2007/2008 and 2011/2012 series were no pushovers either, but this squad certainly looks like the strongest to tour down-under.

For a team to sustain, threaten and dominate Australia at home the bowlers must be quick, aggressive and can move the ball both ways at pace. And the spinners more than even winning games, need to hold one end up for the fast bowlers to control proceedings.

India have five fast bowling options who have their individual strengths. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami. It certainly would be a pleasant headache for the selectors to decide who to play and leave out of the playing XI. But with this much options, in case of injuries, they have backup options ready at their disposal.

And India have the experience and skill of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. But after seeing how the Aussie batsmen were completely unable to read Kuldeep Yadav from the hand in the T20Is, he could well be the surprise package as far as India is concerned. They would be tempted to throw in the chinaman irrespective of the conditions for the surprise element.

But if these bowlers put in a good show and play up to potential then India can most definitely upsurge the hosts and win their first Test series down-under.