Australia Has A Realistic Chance Of Ending A Test Cricket Drought In India

Make no mistake, winning a Test series in India is the hardest challenge in cricket. Only Andrew Strauss’ England, who are increasingly becoming an underrated team as the years roll by, have conquered this formidable terrain in the last 18 years.

Winning the famous Ashes series in England, another bogey for Australia, might receive much more attention but beating India in their comforts will ascend Pat Cummins’ team to greatness level.

The seamer-friendly surfaces in England have proven a thorn for Australia, an even longer series winning drought than in India, but the spinning, dusty decks of India have caused some of their darkest ever moments.

Even their all-time greats have not been immune. Legendary legspinner Shane Warne was memorably thumped by rival Sachin Tendulkar in 1998 like he rarely had ever been before or since. Ricky Ponting could barely sniff a run in 2001, tortured by spinner Harbhajan Singh.

There was also the embarrassing homework scandal in 2013 which effectively cost then coach Mickey Arthur his job.

Against the odds, an inexperienced Australia fought surprisingly hard in 2017 before running out of puff towards the backend. Then the sandpaper saga derailed them 12 months later with Australia subsequently losing two home series against India, who had never previously tasted success Down Under.

After a dominant past 12 months under new captain Pat Cummins, a confident Australia have jumped to the top of the Test rankings – which doesn’t mean a whole lot to be honest – but the eye test does show that this is the country’s best team since their heyday ended in 2007.

Apart from perhaps spin depth, Australia are well stocked across the board although some untimely injuries for what had been such a stable team exposes warts ahead of their big Indian challenge.

With quick Mitchell Starc ruled out of the first Test, allrounder Cameron Green may join him on the sidelines for the series opener with a finger injury to seriously unsettle Australia’s balance.

Even though the surfaces in India are expected to spin viciously, Australia’s best chance of a series victory is probably to replicate their famous blueprint in 2004 where they deployed three quicks alongside Warne, who mostly had a middling record in India but was used effectively to perform the grunt work.

Without Green’s sharp seamers, Australia will more than likely need to use one of their backup spinners – Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar and uncapped Todd Murphy. Legspinner Swepson is probably the best candidate although he mostly struggled in Pakistan and Sri Lanka and was on the outer in the Australian summer although performed well in the backend of the Big Bash League season.

Against South Africa earlier in the month, Agar returned from a five-year Test absence in a wicketless return and the white-ball specialist has never proven his worth in the longer format.

Green’s absence is shaping as a game-changer for Australia, who nonetheless will be realistically dreaming of a series victory in India for the first time since 2004. They might not get India more vulnerable with the hosts to be without injured stars Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, who recently was involved in a horrendous car crash.

Australia’s quicks, especially Cummins, can bowl indefatigable spells which are crucial to surviving the sapping conditions in India. Frontline spinner Nathan Lyon looms as a major key and will need a bumper series in the face of an expected onslaught from India’s star batters.

Australia’s batting looks a little more shaky with not much experience in India bar veterans Steve Smith and David Warner, who has a poor record over there. A lot has been made about swashbuckling No.5 Travis Head’s fragilities in South Asia and how it’s easy to unleash such cavalier batting amid home comforts when a mighty platform had been laid as was repeatedly the case over summer.

Head looms as a litmus test for Australia and if he backs his attacking instincts then that might just be instructive of the team’s approach and overall confidence that has slowly been rebuilt since the dark days of Newlands.

For the first time in almost two decades, Australia are justified in believing they can win in India in what shapes as an era-defining triumph.

Don’t be surprised if they pull off cricket’s toughest challenge.