Border even extended the invitation to the Indian skipper and said he was more than welcome to play for Australia. “We thought you might consider having your newborn here because we can claim your offspring as Australian,” she joked.
The 65-year-old is excited to see cricket in his homeland again and the visiting Indian team is adding sparkle to his eyes.
What is Border’s prediction for the Border-Gavaskar series? The southpaw, who still holds the record for being the only hitter to score 150 in each inning (vs Pak, Lahore, 1980), says: “Very confident in Australia’s chances, especially when they play Australia.” The reasons for his confidence are a quality rhythm attack that includes Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, a high-class spinner in Nathan Lyon and the drive to hitting in the form of Steve Smith and David warner and a battery of talented young players like Marnus Labuschagne, Will Pucovski and Cameron Green.
But the most important factor, Border estimates, is Kohli’s departure for the birth of her first child after the first test in Adelaide. “The only thing that is in Australia’s favor is that Virat Kohli plays only the first test. I think it is a great OUT for India. He is irreplaceable at the moment as a batter and leader. It should be 2-1 for Australia,” he added. he prophesies.
Border is clearly a huge fan of the Indian pattern, but he also says that Australians love to hate him. “He is an antagonist and plays aggressively,” he stresses.
“Look, I love the way he plays his game; he wears his heart on his sleeve. I like his aggression and passion for the game. India as a team will miss him. He is a special player, he has great talent and he is part of it. new India, that’s the way I see it. The way India plays the modern game, they have a very positive mindset, and Virat has led the way very well in those areas. I’m a huge fan, “Border said.
The 1987 World Cup winning captain says he appreciates Kohli’s ability to seamlessly change his game across all formats. “I like the way you can switch your game between different formats. I think if you go back in time when you were playing someone like Sunil Gavaskar, we just had to bring one type of game to the table,” Border said. .
“If you look at Virat he has done equally well in T20, ODI and testing. There are some who do well all over the world: Steve Smith, David Warner and AB de Villiers … That’s why I rate Virat so high, because it is not easy to cut and change your game plan … So for me, he is in the highest echelon of Indian cricketers, “he adds.
While Kohli’s is obviously the biggest scalp for Australian bowlers, at least in the first test, they would also like to see the back of Cheteshwar Pujara quickly. The Saurashtra hitter racked up 521 runs in the series the last time India toured Down Under two years ago and scored three hundred and blunted the Aussie attack by hitting for long periods of time. This time, however, he may suffer from a lack of playing time. Pujara has not played any competitive cricket since the Ranji Trophy final in March between Saurashtra and Bengal in his hometown of Rajkot. Border says that as a player he never liked too many breaks, especially if he was hitting well and Pujara could find things difficult too.
“Someone like Pujara loves to hit so much that I imagine he would go crazy without it. What he’s actually going to do is go from a net session to facing Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins with the new ball. That’s going to be a I work hard, “he says.
What will also be hard work is getting players to adapt to the bio bubbles endlessly. Border reveals that in Queensland, where it is based, things are not too bad and there is not even a ‘mask is a must’ rule to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. However, he fears for the mental health of players who have moved from one bio-bubble in the United Arab Emirates to another in Australia.
“I can’t imagine being in a bubble. I don’t know how players will cope with going from one bubble to another. More than physical fatigue, they will struggle with mental fatigue. Hotel, bus, Land and back. This routine for months will be hard work. It could play a decisive role in the series and the Indians could feel more isolated than the Australians, “he values.
Border, who has witnessed nonconformist characters and intensive breeders throughout his long and illustrious career, feels that gamers must find ways to entertain themselves and cites examples of Australian players who traveled to Pakistan in the early days, feeling caged because they couldn’t drink during outputs. “So we would often get into a team scenario where we had card nights and stuff. You have to have characters on your team and find different ways to relax. We were lucky to have a guy like Merv Hughes, who was very entertaining and keeping the boys’ spirits up, “he says.
Border also expressed apprehension about the need to find a pattern after Tim Paine’s probation is over and stated that the captaincy returning to Smith will result in a media circus. “We don’t have an obvious choice after Paine. I don’t think the selectors want to go back to Smith. The media will go all over the place and it will become a media circus that we don’t need. Let Smith do as many runs as he can,” he says.
The words ball manipulation and Cape Town still annoy Australians, but Border credits coach Justin Langer for making fans fall in love again with the Australian team. “The victory at all costs was not proving very popular. Justin has made the boys win, but with class.”
Border was a coach from 1998 to 2006 and was part of a selection team that took two contentious calls. Division of the test captaincy and ODI. In 1997, the Australian selectors removed Mark Taylor as ODI skipper and announced Steve Waugh as captain. In 2002, Waugh was left as the patron of ODI and named Ricky Ponting as the captain in colorful clothing. Both moves paid off, as Australia won three consecutive World Cups. Even today, as Tim Paine leads the men in white, it is Aaron Finch who is in charge of the team in ODIs and T20s. Does the divided captaincy help? With Rohit sharma Doing well as the Mumbai Indians IPL captain and also shining in the limited opportunities it has for India, there is talk that the cue ball captaincy should go to the Mumbai batter.
Border says: “Ideally, we would have one player as captain in different formats. But these days, it’s a seamless transition as players play many different formats around the world under different captains.”
The man who held the record for playing 153 successive rounds, which was beaten by Alastair Cook (159), wants the Australian selectors to target the talents of Victoria’s Will Puckovski and Western Australia’s Cameron Green. He also warns India that Australians will not find it too difficult to handle the R Ashwin effect on Australian fields. “I think Yuzvendra Chahal would be very effective with his leg-spin. Historically, Australians have also struggled with the quality of the left arm twist and that’s where Ravindra Jadeja could come in,” he says.
(India’s first ODI against Australia will be broadcast live at 8am on November 27 on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3 and Sony Six channels)
.
