It is confirmed that India tour of Australia will go ahead. The series consists of 3 ODIs, 2 T20S and 4 Tests. The tour at one point was extremely doubtful because of the strict quarantine rules put forward by the Queensland state government. With no end in sight, Cricket Australia turned towards New South Wales. Sydney has readily agreed to host India and now the tour will start in Sydney. It is an important series for India because a series win will add some legitimacy to their claim to be the number one team in the world. However, the real question is, is India prepared?
The thing that is at stake
The main challenge for the Indian team is red ball cricket. In other words, Test Cricket. Mainly, because that is where their legitimacy of being the number one team in the world is often questioned. This is especially true after the team were annihilated in New Zealand a few months ago. India is yet to win a series in South Africa and they won their first series in Australia a couple of years ago and that too against a Steven Smith-less Australian team.
Ofcourse, the Indians cannot be blamed for something Smith did to himself. Nonetheless, the Indians lost the last series in Australia when the Australians were in full strength. It exactly is the reason this series has added significance for the Indians. It is true that they are not the number one ranked team any longer but eventually when they do attain that position by virtue of wins in familiar surroundings, lack of wins in Australia and South Africa will be questioned. So, it is all the more important to be well prepared. Is India really prepared? Do they really want to win this series badly?
IPL – Poor preparation
Every Indian player who will eventually travel to Australia are engaged in the IPL. They have been playing a T20 tournament for close to a month and will be engaged for another 5 weeks and in conditions and wickets that will be in stark contrast to what they will find in Australia. Even someone who has never heard about the game will be able to say that this is poor preparation. The Indian team must be engaged in red ball cricket. They must travel to Australia 4-5 weeks in advance. They must play series of first class games in Australia. This will be ideal preparation but they are engaged in a meaningless tournament miles away from Australia.
The Indian team might still be able to land in Australia a month in advance because the first test starts only on the 17th of December. The initial couple of weeks will be taken away by quarantine and then the limited overs leg will take away a further 2 weeks. This will not leave any time to play proper red ball games against the local Australian sides. This essentially means that with 10 months of absolute zero exposure to red ball cricket, the Indians will start the first test and that too a day-night game in Adelaide against an Australian team that is high in confidence.
Responsibility on the part of the board
The board must talk to the Australian board and postpone the limited overs leg to be played after the tests. The team can utilise that 2 weeks period to play proper first class games. It is highly unlikely the board will do that because they do not care whether the team wins or lose. They are only worried about their revenue.
The Indians are given an extremely favourable tour itinerary with the first test to be played in Adelaide and the Melbourne, Sydney and finally in Brisbane. The first 3 venues are not knows for assisting pace. On the otherhand, Melbourne & Sydney are known to favour spin which is the strong point for any Indian team. The Indians have a good chance to win the series by the time the last test is played in pace friendly Brisbane. I am afraid the team has already blown its chance away first, because of lack of serious red ball practise and second, because of complacency.
Will Ganguly listen?
Ganguly wants the Kohli to win the series but it is onething to say and a completely different ball game to not create any conducive environment for the team to win.
Australians preparation
If reports coming out of Australia are to be believed, the Australians are preparing rather well for the series. Tim Paine & Head have scored 100s for the respective teams. Nathan Lyon is among the wickets and so is White. Starc is also bowling well. Marnus Labuschagne is continuing from where he left off. It is only Smith, Warner, Cummins & Hazlewood who are engaged in the IPL. Since, the series is held in their own country, they can easily adapt.
Nathan Lyon still has not forgotten the 2018 loss and is looking forward for revenge. He is even billed this series as the battle for the number one ranking. This certainly will give the Australians added motivation to not only defeat India but to annihilate them. Lyon is closing in on a major milestone. 400 test wickets. He will be charged to get to 400.
Added to this, Justin Langer is seeing signs of Australian cricket returning back to its glory days.
“That’s what I want and I’ve said it from day one. I want players knocking so hard on the door that you can’t ignore them and therefore, what that creates, the guys in the team, gee they’ve got to stay on their toes.
“There’s not a second for complacency or mediocrity. The guys who are working so hard to be knocking on the door have to be getting better and better and better to be getting the opportunity”
Conclusion
The pity is that the Indians and especially, Virat Kohli does not seem to be listening. Kohli is very busy in trying to win his first IPL trophy when he should be concentrating on winning his first series in Australia against a legitimate Australian team. Rohit Sharma & Mayank Agarwal are determined to hit the white ball out of the ground when they should be practising playing against Starc & Cummins armed with the red ball.
Bumrah, Chahal, Kuldeep, Ashwin & Jadeja instead of formulating plans for each and every Australian batsman, is engaged in duels with fellow Indian cricketers who will be forgotten after the IPL is over. Vihari, Pujara and Rahane, don’t even know where they are. Ishant & Kumar are injured and it is not clear whether they will play the series. Kumar will be an asset in Adelaide evening sky with his swing but thanks to IPL, his participation is in doubt. I know that it is illogical to except the Indian team to win but we can always hope to prevail.