Australia vs India 2018-19: Virat Kohli & Co India’s Best Fast-Bowling, Fielding Team But Not Batting, feels Ian Chappell

Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell feels Indian National Cricket team under the leadership of Virat Kohli is the best bowling and fielding unit, but it is certainly not the best batting side. Meanwhile, India dominated the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as they scripted history to win their first-ever series in Australia beating them 2-1 in the four-match Test series.

The historic win garnered widespread praise from all over the world with several former cricketers hailing their performance. Ian Chappell is the latest addition to it, who lauded his bowling and fielding unit in a chat with ESPNcricinfo.

“This Indian side is the best fast bowling contingent I have seen from India and the best fielding side that I have seen from India. But it’s not the best batting side. I have seen better batting combinations from India than this team,” Chappell said.

However, Ian Chappell didn’t reveal which batting line-up he considered as the best. Cheteshwar Pujara returned as the highest run-scorer in the series with 521 runs at an average of 74 including three match-winning centuries. However, the pacers turned out to be more fruitful who accounted for 50 of the 70 Australian wickets.

The visiting pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami combined for an average of 21.62 in the four-match series, while Australia’s pace attack, comprising Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, averaged over 30. Ian Chappell feels Indian bowlers exploited the conditions better.

“I thought the Indian bowlers did really well and overall they out-bowled the Australians. They got more swing than the Australian bowlers.

“I think the seam position of the Indian fast bowlers was very good. They kept it up the whole time and perhaps that’s why they swung the ball more than the Australians,” he concluded.