Why India's face-off against a depleted Australia won't be a cakewalk

The much-awaited India's Test series in Australia is all set to kick-start on 6th December after T20I series. Another overseas tour, another time India will be desperate to shed off their 'Poor Travellers' tag coming from back to back losses in South Africa and England.

Having won just 5 of their 44 tests in Australia and winning none of the series, a lot of fans look at the upcoming tour of Australia as India’s best chance to register their 1st series win in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner.

The fact that India has been at the top in ICC Test rankings for two years now and Australia currently being at five adds weight to those perceptions. However, as the coach Shastri insisted in his recent interview, no team is weak at home. Like any other teams in modern day cricket, Australia has enough resources at home to compensate for the absence of their top guns.

To put our case forward here we bring you the following five factors:

A top bowling unit

Intimidating Australian quartet.

India series could well mean the reunion of the intimidating Australian quartet. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood who missed out on UAE tests due to lumbar bone stress injuries are all set to accompany Mitch Starc and Lyon.

The last time when these four played together at home, Australia had a bowling average of 26.63 letting England go past 300-mark only thrice in 8 innings despite getting decent pitches to bat on. Life won’t be easy for any team facing this unit in their backyard especially with the reputation that Indian test batsmen are carrying at the moment.

Inexperience inconsequential at home

Marnus Labuschagne is the second highest wicket-taker for Australia in the recently concluded UAE tour.

Inexperienced players drafted into the playing XI have turned out to be an invaluable asset to the teams in the recent past, especially when playing at home. Jayant Yadav has been a thorn in the flesh for England when they visited India last time. Sam Curran was the difference between the two sides in India’s tour of England. Lungi Ngidi shut the doors on India in South Africa on his debut to help his team seal the series.

Fakhar Zaman put Pakistan on track on his debut which happened to be a series-deciding test after his team lost four scalps in six deliveries to Lyon in UAE. Should not be surprised if the likes of Marnus Labuschagne repeat the heroics if given a chance.

The toughest territory for Asian teams to conquer

Asian teams yet to win a test series in Australia.

Though away wins don’t come easy, Asian teams have found a way to compete and win some tests in England, New Zealand and South Africa but traditionally Australia has always been the toughest. In the last decade, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka came out without a win having played over 17 tests & 5 series altogether and was swept in 4 of them while India managed a couple of draws in 2014/15 tour.

Decent batting unit at home

Australians had a pretty decent run with the bat at home.

Australia has a pretty decent batting unit at home despite the absence of Steve Smith and Warner. Matt Renshaw, who did not make it to playing XI in the last series and Usman Khawaja averages over 60 at home.

The Marsh brothers who were struggling for runs in UAE has a good record at home. Shaun averages 59.41 from 2013 while Mitch has 39.5 and Captain Paine has 48. Even the likes of Finch and Head who were brought into baggy green setup recently cannot be written off.

Visiting bowlers’ nightmare

Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed to pick just one scalp after bowling 42 overs in 2014/15 tour.

While batsmen have started finding moderate success, it is getting tougher and tougher for bowlers in Australia. Other than South Africa in 2016, no other visiting team has managed a bowling average of 45 or less in 5 years.

Yes, India has a better bowling unit in a long time at the moment and is picking 20 wickets more often than not. They did it on South Africa and England tours too but, they happened to be in bowler-friendly surfaces and conditions. There was a wicket for every 23 runs in South Africa and 25 runs in England. The real test comes on while playing on the lifeless Australian tracks.