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Test series between Australia and India have been lopsided in recent times – always in favour of the home team.
For two superpowers of world cricket, this is disappointing.
We have to go all the way back to 2004 for the last visiting team, where Australia, in Michael Clarke’s first series, won 2-1 under the captaincy of Adam Gilchrist. This win was seen as the final frontier for the great Australian team that included names like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matt Hayden and Justin Langer, while captain Ricky Ponting missed the first three Tests of that series through injury.
India were the last away Test winner, at Perth where the Indians won by 72 runs in the match immediately following the ‘monkeygate’ affair at the Sydney new year Test.
Since then it has gone 14-0 from 17 Tests (up to Melbourne) to the home team. So, who will be the next away team to win an Australia versus India Test match?
I say India, and it could be as soon as the Sydney Test.
A formidable young batting line up is being built by the Indians. Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane are in the top four run scorers in this current series, while Che Pujara has shown his class at times.
All have proven they can make runs overseas, which some great Indian players of the past struggled to do.
If they can lock down the other opening spot with Vijay and number six they will look even better. There is a brittleness to the Indian batting which sees them collapse once the best players are out away from home. This must be rectified.
The Australian batting line up has come up short time and time again in India, particularly struggling against the relentless Indian spinners.
Our two best players of spin are Michael Clarke and Steve Smith, however Clarke is no certainty to be there the next time we tour the sub-continent.
India’s pace bowling attack, while nowhere near as talented or deep as Australia’s, is far from the worst and will bowl the occasional spell that wins them an away Test match, such as Ishant Sharma did at Lord’s in 2014.
The spin bowling is the big difference. India have a plethora of spinning options that bamboozle the Australian batsman each tour, making it virtually impossible for the Aussies to win a Test, let alone a series.
Improving the batting against spin is Darren Lehmann’s number one priority prior to the next Australian tour to India.
Nathan Lyon is growing as a Test quality off-spinner. The biggest issue for Australia when touring India is the second spinner as two are needed on those pitches. The selectors will be looking towards the young leg-spinning options in Cameron Boyce and James Muirhead as well as left-arm orthodox spinner Ashton Agar to take that second spinning role.
On the flip side of that argument, Ravi Ashwin, while not dominating in this current series, has been a solid performer with seven wickets in three Tests and has provided some batting depth at number 8, showing he can perform a role in Australian conditions.
In Kohli, the Indians have a brash captain who is prepared to give as good as he gets, also something past Indians have been reluctant to do. A player like this will and has clashed with the Australians.
It’s this new attitude that has the Indians ready for the fight on the road, not only on the field but with the hostile crowds around the country.
If Kohli can harness this new attitude to pull the team together the Indians could pull of that way win in Sydney.
Or if not, it’s over to Australia to try and break the streak.
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