The long-awaited India tour of Australia is just around the corner. India’s full Australia tour will begin on November 27 with the ODIs, followed by three T20I matches on 4, 6 and 8. The four-round Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin in Adelaide with India and Australia set to play their Opening Day . / Night test against each other.
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India beat Australia 2-1 in testing the last time they toured Australia, but this time the challenge will be completely different, mainly for two reasons: the availability of Steve Smith and David Warner, who did not play in 2018 and the absence of Virat Kohli. The captain of India will return home after playing the first of four tests before the birth of his son and his wife Anushka Sharma.
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Kohli’s absence promises to tip the balance in Australia’s favor, acknowledges head coach Justin Langer. Kohli was India’s top run scorer during the 2014/15 series with 692 runs and the second best run scorer in the 2018-19 series with 292 runs. Calling Kohli “the best he’s ever seen,” Langer noted that it’s hard not to be happy knowing Kohli will miss three tests.
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“I’ve said this before, he’s probably the best player I’ve ever seen for many reasons,” Langer told reporters in a video call.
“It’s not just his hitting, but his energy, his passion for the game, the way he plays. I can’t believe the energy he shows in everything he does. Are we happy he’s not playing? It’s like getting Dustin Martin out of Richmond, right? Langer added, referring to the Australian Rules champion footballer.
With Kohli out, Vice Captain Ajinkya Rahane is likely to take over the team. The addition of Rohit Sharma to the India test side promises to bolster the side, but Kohli is a different pot of fish and not having him around for most of the test series is sure to affect India, Langer feels.
“Of course it will have an impact but we also know that India, they beat us last time, they are a very, very good team,” he said. “We cannot be satisfied for a second with or without Virat. So we are going to have to be vigilant all summer and we are looking forward to it ”.
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