There is approximately three weeks until the India tour of Australia and the stakes could not be higher. The Indian team led by Virat Kohli would expect to deliver impressive performances if they are to claim back-to-back victories in the test series in Australia, although this time it will be a completely different challenge with the return of David Warner and Steve. Smith, who was not part of the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy that India won.
India’s batting has always been subject to a severe test in Australia and while last time Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant all got centuries, despite winning, the batting left much more to be desired. In this series, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, one cricketer who would be looking to prove his detractors wrong is KL Rahul. Rahul is returning to the test team for the first time since August last year and with a string of poor performances in test matches, the opening hitter would be willing to make amends in a tough series.
Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president, however, has backed Rahul to do well against Australia. Rahul has been in prolific form in limited formats and Ganguly feels the hitter has what it takes to be successful in all three formats of the game.
“I have a lot of time for KL Rahul in test matches and I say that as a cricketer. But, at the end of the day, it’s the selector who decides who plays and who doesn’t, ”Ganguly said on India Today’s ‘Inspiration’ show. “Like someone who has played the game, I feel like he (Rahul) is someone who will contribute in all forms of the game. I wish you all the luck. Hopefully, it will contribute to the winning cause of India, which is important. ”
The series is billed as India’s batsmen versus Australian bowlers, but Ganguly calculated that Virat Kohli’s team has a bowling attack that is more than capable of taking 20 wickets, which may be a major factor in the way the series is shaping up.
“India has the attack, it is about Virat working with them and making them perform at their best. It is up to him to decide as captain who he wants to attack with and with what stage he wants to attack, whether it is Ashwin or Bumrah or Saini, or Sharma or Jadeja. It’s his skills as a captain, ”Ganguly added.
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