Australia clinching their fifth straight Test victory, inside four days, stands in stark contrast to the side that lost their first series at home to India last year. A team that had been staring down the barrel post the ball-tampering saga, the Baggy Greens had suffered humiliating defeats to both South Africa (1-3 in a four-match series) and Pakistan (1-0 in a two-match series) before they locked horns with India.
Led by Virat Kohli, India scripted history when they managed to draw the fourth Test, having taken a 2-1 lead in the previous three matches. While that series win Down Under was an incredible high for the current world No 1 side, it somehow marked the end to the blip that the Australians had been suffering since the scandal broke out in Cape Town.
The Indians, technically, had an easier task at hand – beat an Australian side not just low on morale and muddled in leadership crisis but without the star duo of Steve Smith and David Warner.
Twelve months down the line, Australia have managed to retain the Ashes in England, whitewashed Pakistan (2-0) and New Zealand (3-0) at home to achieve a new high of winning all five Tests of the home summer inside four days.
It’s not going to be easy for Kohli & Co to say the least. But given the artillery in their arsenal, the table toppers of the ICC Test Championship are expected to not let go of the opportunity to repeat the feat as well. For the cricketing fraternity though, the series should dish out a number of top clashes between a few top individuals of the sport. Here’s a look at the top five:
Steve Smith vs Jasprit Bumrah
If there could be one cricketing battle where the iconic phrase “when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object” could be applied, it has to be between the duel between these two prolific performers.
Jasprit Bumrah will be expected to lead India’s bowling attack and his variation will be the key against Smith, who has struck form since his comeback after the ban.
After lording in England during the Ashes, Smith is currently No 2 on the ICC Test rankings and will be the prized wicket India would aim for.
Interestingly though, Smith has never faced an Indian attack at home but away from it in six matches, the former Australian skipper has 660 runs under his belt, including three centuries. Bumrah, too, has impressive numbers from his only tour – 21 wickets in four matches.
David Warner vs Mohammed Shami
The Bull is back. Quite like Smith, Warner is back in form and should open the innings for Australia during the home series. He has been on a roll recently, including an unbeaten triple century against Pakistan. In five matches of the home summer, Warner has scored 786 runs at an astonishing average of 131.00 while notching up three centuries.
It would be a perfect showdown when he faces Mohammed Shami, who has had a good run in Australia in the past. In seven matches so far, Shami has picked up 31 wickets, including a 6/56 which is also his best Test figures.
Shami’s ability to land the ball on the seam and swing it both ways makes it difficult to read while his ability to generate reverse swing with the old leather should be effective on the green turfs in Australia.
Virat Kohli vs Pat Cummins
Kohli did have a century and a half-century to show for in the previous series but his overall aggregate of 282 runs in seven innings didn’t quite justify his lofty standards.
The Indian skipper will, thus, be expected to go a notch higher but the top-ranked batsman in the longest format of the game will have serious questions posed at him when he faces Pat Cummins – No 1 on ICC rankings for Test bowlers.
In seven innings of the previous tour, Kohli had fallen to fast bowlers on five occasions, with Cummins trumping him thrice.
Cummins, who finished 2019 with 99 wickets – the most in the calendar year – thus should be tasked by skipper Tim Paine yet again to get rid of the talismanic batsman. Overall though, Kohli has had an impressive show Down Under – scoring 1,274 runs in 12 matches, including six centuries.
Marnus Labuschagne v Kuldeep Yadav
Both Marnus Labuschagne and Kuldeep Yadav had played just one game in India’s previous tour to Australia but while the latter had settled himself in international cricket by then, it wasn’t quite the case for Labuschagne.
However, since then, the duo’s career paths have gone in opposite directions, despite Kuldeep picking five wickets in an innings of the fourth Test at Adelaide.
Kuldeep hasn’t played Test cricket since, while Labuschagne finished the 2019 calendar year as the highest run-getter in Tests.
He was also the only batsman to notch north of 1,000 runs in 2019. It’ll be a tough call to not include Kuldeep despite the presence of Ravichandran Ashwin who has been impressive at home.
On Australian turfs, which are not expected to assist finger spinners as much, the wrist spin of Kuldeep may come handy for Kohli, who would want him to run riot in the batting order yet again.
Cheteshwar Pujara vs Nathan Lyon
A significant factor why Kohli’s dip in runs didn’t halt India’s iconic series victory was Cheteshwar Pujara’s stellar form with the bat. His 521 runs in seven innings at an average of 74.42 saw him emerge as the highest run-getter in the series, with the Indian No 3 scoring three centuries and a half-century.
Lyon had managed to dismiss Pujara twice in the previous series. It would be a test of patience for both the players as Pujara is known to take his time to settle down while Lyon is extremely consistent with his line and length.
Besides generating wily turn off the cracks, Lyon’s stubbornness to hit the deck and induce players to drive early on can test Pujara, who although usually doesn’t give in to the lure of scoring quick runs.
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