There’s less than a month until the first test match of the summer kicks off, with Australia set to face off against India at the Adelaide Oval on December 6.
But with Australia’s two best and most experienced Test batsmen still suspended in the continuing aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal back in March, how will the series pan out? One thing’s for sure – we’re in for an intriguing series.
India currently sit at number one on the ICC Test rankings, boasting the world’s best active batsman in Virat Kohli (the Steve Smith vs Kohli comparison is an entirely different scenario) and two of the world’s top five all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja (#2 on the ICC test all-rounder rankings) and Ravichandran Ashwin (#5).
Both Jadeja (#5) and Ashwin (#9) are also listed in the world’s top 10 bowlers according to the ICC’s test bowling rankings. Beyond Jadeja and Ashwin as their two front-line spinners, India also boasts a potent pace attack.
It will be a tough decision for selectors to pick between Mohammad Shami (#22 on the ICC test bowling rankings), Umesh Yadav (#25), Ishant Sharma (#26) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (#29) to form India’s pace attack, unless they choose to play all four and pick one of Jadeja or Ashwin as an all-rounder.
India’s squad also boasts some up-and coming stars, with 19-year old batsman Prithvi Shaw and 21-year-old keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant a chance to feature during the series, and left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and rising pace star Jasprit Bumrah also named in the squad.
After dismal tours of South Africa and the UAE, Australia now sit at fifth on the ICC Test team rankings. Despite having been banned for the last seven months, Steve Smith (#2) and David Warner (#5) both remain in the top five of the ICC’s Test batting rankings.
However, with both Smith and Warner absent from international selection (barring a reduction in their bans) until April 2019, Australia have an obvious lack of batting proficiency. Usman Khawaja, who is widely considered Australia’s best active batsman, is the next highest Aussie batsman on the ICC Test charts, sitting at number 11, and from there onwards, Peter Handscomb (#40) and Shaun Marsh (#42) are the next highest ranked Australian batsmen.
As for the bowlers, we know the damage Australia’s ‘big three’, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood can do, having wreaked havoc with England’s batting order last summer.
Because of the obvious lack of depth in Australia’s batting line-up, it will mostly be up to Australia’s bowlers to do the job. Having said that, Australia will still need to score enough runs to be able to win a game, but it will take a monstrous effort to curb the collective influences of Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and the remainder of India’s batsmen.
Perhaps it’s a good thing that Smith and Warner were suspended. The absence of these two batsmen provides a golden opportunity for Australia’s experienced heads (Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh and Aaron Finch) to lead the way for the rest of the team, and for Australia’s younger players (Travis Head, Matt Renshaw and Marnus Labuschagne to name a few) to be able to gain experience and step up and perform at international level.
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