India v Australia 2018/19: 5 Key battles which might decide the outcome of the Test series

#3 Ravi Ashwin versus Usman Khawaja

Ravi Ashwin is India's most important trump card and he is going to Australia on his third tour. Ashwin has been a force in India against Australia and has picked up 50 wickets in 8 Tests at 23.16 with five 5-fers. He was the Man-of-the-series against the Aussies in 2013/14 season when India defeated Australia 4-0.

However, Ashwin has not been that successful in Australia. He has a poor average of 54.71 for his 21 wickets in 6 matches. Even though he bowled reasonably well against South Africa and England this year, he has to really be the man who keeps things tight and prizes out a few important wickets if India has to be in the battle.

Ashwin versus Usman Khawaja will be a great contest. In the absence of Smith and Warner, Khawaja has to step up his game if Australia wants to put big runs on the board.

Khawaja has been known to struggle against quality spin and if Ashwin has his number in the series, it would definitely tilt the contest in India's favor.