Former Australia coach John Buchanan reckoned that India's quest for a third successive Test series win in Australia would be determined on how their batters, of whom a majority are experienced ones like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, deal with the hosts' pace.
This will be India's maiden five-match Test series contest for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia since the 1991-92 season, with the first Test scheduled to commence on November 22 in Perth.
Buchanan, who captained Australia when it was enjoying its supremacy in international cricket during the early 2000s, pointed out that both India and Australia have a number of experienced players in their squads. But he doesn't think that will take away much sting from the rivalry between the sides. "Because since its loss to India in the last series, Australia has put together a pace attack that with off-spinner Nathan Lyon, is now supported by either Cameron Green or Mitch Marsh, making them an incredibly formidable combination," Buchanan said during an interaction with PTI on Thursday after he attended the launch of 'Ready Steady Go Kids' multi-sport program at CP Goenka International School.
He said India's top order, though comprising talented and experienced players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli-with Shreyas Iyer coming in-must consistently do its job for big totals to be set. "Once they set big totals, then bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj will get a chance to shine," Buchanan added.
Speaking about the psychological impact of India's past series victories in Australia, Buchanan said that though those victories were very important, the fact that key players from those tours, like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are not there, will change things a little as this series may go. "Past victories might play on the mind a bit in the pre-series build-up, but the players that are competing against each other now will want to do well," Buchanan said.
Meanwhile, Buchanan added that both teams have a lot of experienced players: Rohit Sharma will be 37 years, Virat Kohli 35, and probably Ravichandran Ashwin also 37 years for India. By contrast, Australia's squad only has a handful of players below the age of 30. "The contest once again will centre around how well the top order for both teams copes with testing conditions - expected to have more bounce, seam and swing, considering especially the day/night Test in Adelaide -," he had said.
On this count, Buchanan underlined that the key factor would be India batting long periods to blunt the Australian bowling attack, a stratagem Pujara had so effectively used in previous tours. "Australia's strength at home is their batting and knowing the conditions well, and also one of the best pace attacks in world cricket with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Lyon," he underlined.
He also remarked that India's less-than-adequate preparation schedule, considering the fact that the tourists will play only one pink-ball game, a two-day encounter against the Prime Minister's XI on November 30 and December 1, before the day-night Test could be a problem: "Australia is currently favored for the series. Tours today aren't like what they used to be, you really have to hit the ground running, and for visiting teams, this is quite hard work," Buchanan said.
He also expressed his concerns about Steve Smith continuing as an opener for Australia: "Personally, I don't think it is ideal. Smith has been brilliant at number four. But those are selection matters that ultimately the selectors and the captain and Smith himself will decide."
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