Former Australia Test captain Ian Chappell believes if the Indian batters try to go over the top with their shots in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, then they will be found out by extra bounce in the conditions during the all-important series. India will reach the Australian shores after a disappointing 3-0 series defeat to New Zealand at home. Poor captaincy form of Rohit Sharma, coupled with the downward spiral of talismanic batter Virat Kohli, are just a few of the major concerns the visitors face.
"India have some batting problems. I really think Jaiswal's a pretty nice-looking youngster, a left-hand opening batsman, I thought Gill can play, whereas Kohli and Rohit Sharma-they are getting on-they've had great careers-so when it happens, perhaps it comes a bit towards that, you know. when they begin to bring it into people's mindset (like, 'maybe am getting up there for my downfall') and you start hearing those things probably."
"The only thing I'd say against that is they're coming to Australia where the pitches are pretty good, but there'll be the extra bounce and if they have gone over the top then the extra bounce will find them out," said Chappell on Wide World of Sports' Outside the Rope show.
India have emerged victorious in the last two Test series in Australia, with identical margins of 2-1 in 2018/19 and 2020/21, respectively. Former Australia skipper Mark Taylor feels that with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not in great form, the pressure to make big runs will lie more on the young batters that are in the squad.
"They've moved on Pujara, and they've moved on Rahane, and they've left Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, their best two players, but all of a sudden they have had a bit of a rocky period. and that has put pressure now on the younger guys and also their lower-order. You still need to make the bulk of your runs from your best players, and over the last probably 12 or 18 months that hasn't been the case for India."
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 will be played as Test matches between India and Australia, under which Test matches will be played at Perth, Adelaide (pink-ball match), Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney from November 22 to January 7 in the year 2025. It will also denote the first five-match Test series between India and Australia since the 1991/92 season.
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