India made waves in the summer of 2018-19 as they defeated Australia in a Test series for the first time Down Under.
It was a dark time for the Aussies but under Justin Langer, Australian cricket was slowly rebuilt and that climaxed when they retained the Ashes in England.
It was evident that with Steve Smith and David Warner absent from the team due to the ball-tampering scandal, the Aussies were going to suffer. Losing two of the world’s best batsman is catastrophic.
Australia’s strength at the time was their fierce bowling attack, spearheaded by Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Complementing them was obviously Nathan Lyon with off-spin.
It was always the bowling having to carry the load for the lack of contributions from the batsmen. The batting line-up was just horrible, Marcus Harris scoring the most runs in the India series with an average of just under 37 runs.
Aaron Finch struggled and while there were some good starts from the top and middle order, they ultimately didn’t capitalise. Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Shaun Marsh were the next best in terms of total and average runs.
There is no doubt that Tim Paine taking over as captain has showcased his leadership skills and ability to galvanise the squad but his batting left a lot to be desired. His technique generally looks good but he scored the runs and has a Test average of 31.7.
Tim Paine (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Cummins and Starc kept the ship afloat against India, averaging a tick over 23 runs per innings. But all of this occurred back in the summer of 2018-19.
Fast forward to the summer of 2020-21 and India are touring Australia once again but a lot has changed.
Australia have brought in Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne and recalled Matthew Wade, while Travis Head has solidified the middle order. They’ve gone on to defeat Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand while retaining the Ashes as mentioned.
The Aussies now have a consistent line-up and the supporting cast around Smith and Warner is much more solid. When you pair that with the lethal bowling, Australia becomes a different animal.
Since their historical win two years ago, India have defeated the West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh but they weren’t able to beat New Zealand.
They have chopped and changed both their batting and bowling a few times but for the upcoming series, expect a heavy dose of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami charging in with the ball.
One area of concern for India could be finding a consistent spin threat that suits the Australian conditions. They may use Ravichandran Ashwin to begin with, however he mainly excels back home. They do have an alternative in Ravindra Jadeja, who can build pressure.
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal will be looking to replicate their previous outstanding batting performances in Australia. They have a strong and deep batting line-up led by Virat Kohli.
It’s great to have Test cricket back and it should be an amazing series with both teams having a lot to prove. India is a quality side but they are going to face a completely revamped Australia to the one they played two years ago.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Pierro said: He’s done more than the time he deserved and is a better captain tactically and on DRS than Paine You should really watch cricket if you're going to make statements like this...
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
I don’t get the obsession with Tim Paine’s batting. Two reasons Tempo. 1. Oz generally has a diabolically low standard of cricket media. For them, it's far easier to write a "Paine Must Go" piece than it is to be an imaginative wordsmith like Cardus, Robinson or Fingleton. 2. Oz cricket media is very balanced. They are as NSW-friendly as they are Others negative.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
And right on cue TPs snares a blinder yesterday. :laughing:
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
It's that bloody Gilchrist again. Look lads, Gilchrist was a freak, a one-off. Some people, invariably batsmen, were happy to ignore his shoddy keeping because of his 50+ batting, but prior to AG Oz had the simple, and highly effective, philosophy of picking the best 'keeper in the land. The two best keepers of my time have been Healy (27.4) & Marsh (26.5) and Oz did pretty well with those two behind the stumps. Hopefully, somewhere amongst the plethora of stats now being kept on every game the differential between a keeper and a backstop will be measured. It's not just catches that win matches, stumpings, run-outs and byes help too.
TheCunningLinguistic
Roar Rookie
If Inglis can continue his great form, he may just pinch Paine's spot by the end of the summer. I'm just not sure that the statement "Paine is our best keeper" is still true today...
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Thats true Bernie . Surely its down to Smith himself after this summer.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Now not taking into account wicketkeeping skills, which of the players we have at the moment available have batting averages on par with De Kock, Watling, Pant, Rahim? Which ones around buttoer’s early 30’s?
Brian
Guest
Simple there are only 8 teams De Kock, Watling, Pant, Rahim are better Rizwan, Buttler, Chandimal about on par. So he is somewhere below average on par with Buttler except Buttler is a lot younger and I couldn't imagine they would persist with him if he was Paine age
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
He may not want the job again.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Brian. Ok, which wicketkeepers you want to compare him with then and we’ll go from there. It’s a few years old, but it may help a little. https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.news.com.au/sport/cricket/australias-wicketkeepers-are-the-worst-in-the-world/news-story/5f74ce6ee153f67d177cee5524351647
Literally spot on, if Smith bats at 90% the series is over by the third game. We shouldnt be questioning if Paine's batting is good enough when there are bigger question marks over our No.5/No.6. I think Travis Head is going to get eaten alive by Bumrah this summer. He barely coped against Pakistan and a solid if unspectacular New Zealand attack.
Pierro!!! The one who can be counted on to slag Paine at literally any chance. Dude, he's the best keeper in the country, miles better than your anointed one Carey who struggles in ODIs haha. He's also the captain and a decent enough No.7.
Brian
Guest
C'mon some of those guys played 40 years ago. It'd be like saying yeah my full forward didn't apply any pressure but his pressure was better then Plugger's
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Excellent point and observation Brian.
Brian
Guest
Fair bit depends on the first test under lights. Ball should move around and there will be a winner. With the other tests then on Australian roads could be hard to come back
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Smith is incredible tempo only small concern is archer and others have now targeted the fast high ball at his head and he just got concussed yet again in england. A slight concern going forward. His summer was indeed bound to come off a tad after ashes and he was coming in on concrete pitches but not quite the same form. Im one of his biggest fans and think he should easily be captain again but the media and nanny state groups in this country nailed him to a post compared to what would have transpired in other countries. He's done more than the time he deserved and is a better captain tactically and on DRS than Paine and will be a bit more ruthless should the captaincy be given to him again. He's a good bloke too . For me paine should stay or go on his keeping and batting
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Dunger hes capable on flat pitches at home but really he's been so exposed in test cricket as dire in england and archer and broad had his number in england. I sat there in three tests he just can't play the movement in england. If the selectors and everyone can't see that then we have a huge problem. Paine more aging . Theres certainly better captains in smith than paine and clinging on to the past is silly. Smith exceptional i notice the concussions are mounting up though and they have learnt to bowl fast at his head as they just couldn't get him out and its sowed some seeds of doubt on his batting against archers of the world. A much stronger test against india coming than pakistan or nz but we should be able to win at home and it will certainly shield warner and paine for the summer. I think we need to get very smart thereafter . The covid issue has made it hard with prep and shield access no doubt so its hard to gauge who's coming up in the field . Warner for me looked a bit suspect against NZ in the last series in aus outside of the batting slaughter of the last test. Hard to tamper with the team right now of course but should we seriously take warner back to SA next year or to the test championship in London . For me its an emphatic NO based on his foreign form in last few years and its about doing whats best for the team and results instead of being stubborn
Renato CARINI
Roar Rookie
:thumbup: :cricket: :cricket:
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Spot on TJ. Replace a guy that you think is doing average with someone the facts show are doing average in n the lower grade in batting and keeping.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Yes I would have thought the teams were a lot more evenly matched than some of the predictions among the comments are suggesting. India are going to give it a real good shake and Australia will have to play at their best throughout in order to defeat them. I believe it can be done though.