Australia vs India 2018: Five India Players Who Might Struggle in Test Series

India has had two unsuccessful foreign tours in 2018. They lost the Test series in South Africa by 2-1 and then went on lose the series against England by 4-1. Therefore, Virat Kohli-led team will like to turn the tables on the tour of Down Under. India will play three T20Is, four Test matches and three ODIs on Australia tour.

Australia will be without the services of their talisman batsman, Steven Smith, and David Warner. Thus, India will fancy their chances against a broken Australian side. However, their fast bowlers can breathe down the neck of the Indian batsmen.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was the lone warrior with the bat on the tour of England. Therefore, there can be some players who find it difficult to hit the ground running in the Australian conditions.

We take a look at five Indian players who will struggle in Test series against Australia.

KL Rahul

KL Rahul has had a difficult time in the recent past. He had found it tough to get going on the England tour. Furthermore, he could not find his form against the depleted Windies side. Rahul has had his issues with the ball coming into him. In the last ten innings, Rahul has got out LBW on five occasions whereas he has been bowled four times. However, Rahul had scored his maiden century on the Australian soil in his second Test match.

Therefore, Australian bowlers will like to target him with the reverse swing. Subsequently, Rahul can find it difficult to find his form on the Australian pitches.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin had a good start to the England tour as he scalped seven wickets in the first Test. However, he faded away in the fag end of the series. Ashwin can have another tough tour of Australia as there would be less purchase for him on the Australian pitches as there is not much spin on offer.

Consequently, Ashwin will have to guile with his bowling. Ashwin tends to experiment a lot with his variations and he needs to keep a check on his bowling.

Hardik Pandya 

Hardik Pandya had a tough tour of England tour. Pandya had a good third Test match. However, he was not able to come up with consistent performances. Meanwhile, Pandya will be making a comeback after an acute back injury.

Therefore, it is not going to be easy for the Indian all-rounder to straightway hit the ground running in Australia. In fact, this is going to be maiden Test series for Hardik Pandya on Australian soil.

Pandya will need to be consistent with his line and length as he can veer off the track. Furthermore, Pandya’s batting will be under the scanner against the Australian fast bowlers as Pandya doesn’t looks at ease against the pacers.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

It might surprise many but Bhuvneshwar Kumar can find it difficult to get going in the Australian conditions. There is not much swing in the Australian conditions. However, the most deadly weapon in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s armory is his swing. Therefore, Bhuvneshwar Kumar can look a bit pale on the Australian tour.

Furthermore, Kumar had also missed out on the England tour. Therefore, he hasn’t played in the red ball version in the recent past.

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara hasn’t been in the best of forms in the recent past. He has got off to starts, however, he hasn’t converted his starts into substantial scores. Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara doesn’t have the fastest of hands to tackle the bounce of the Australian bowlers and hardly has a backlift which can make his life difficult on Australian pitches.

Pujara had scored 201 runs in the previous tour of Australia in the six innings. Thus, he can have a tough time while facing the backfoot stuff. Hence, Pujara will need to be at the top of his game to savor success on Australia tour.