Five Reasons Why Australia Might Beat India in Tests
Here are the five reasons why Australia might beat India in Tests. Image Courtesy: Getty

India is all set to play their first Test match against Australia on December 6 in Adelaide. Meanwhile, the hosts will miss the services of their two great batsmen – David Warner and Steven Smith. The duo is serving a ban for twelve months, as they got engaged in a ball-tampering scandal earlier this year in South Africa. However, India has the golden opportunity to win the series in Australia for the first time. Hence, here are the five reasons why Australia might beat India in Tests to lift the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

Five Reasons Why Australia Might Beat India in Tests

  • Inexperience behind the stumps

Five reasons why Australia might beat India in Tests
Rishabh Pant.

With Wriddhiman Saha getting sidelined from Australia tour due to injury, team India would go in with the new set of glovemen. Though Saha had gained the fame as the best wicketkeeper around, looking at the current squad, it seems Rishabh Pant will do the honours for India in four Tests.

Meanwhile, Pant had leaked 76 runs in the form of byes when India last played in Tests in England. Also, the Australian pitches have much more pace and bounce which will be a tough job for Pant to test his keeping skills.

  • India’s unsorted batting order

Five reasons why Australia might beat India in Tests
Hanuma Vihari would fight for a place in the XI with Rohit Sharma. Image Courtesy: Getty

Team India is in a dilemma that who will open the innings in the opening Test game. The Indian squad has Prithvi Shaw, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma as potential openers. With Shaw suffering an ankle injury in the practice game, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay seem to be the ideal choice heading into the first Test.

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Moreover, with Pujara, Virat Kohli and Rahane to follow, there would be a fight for the sixth slot between Hanuma Vihari and Rohit Sharma.

  • The absence of Hardik Pandya

Five reasons why Australia might beat India in Tests
Hardik Pandya’s absence could hurt India. Image Courtesy: Getty

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been out of action since he got injured in the Asia Cup 2018. He had missed the last home series against the Windies and is also missing the tour to Australia.

Meanwhile, Pandya has hard hands and can deliver both with bat and ball. He can balance the team in a pretty manner, and his absence will surely hurt India’s balance heading into four Tests.

Moreover, with India having just two spin-bowling all-rounders, Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, the visitors could miss Hardik on bouncy tracks. As the second Test is scheduled in Perth, his presence would have made the squad look potent.

  • Failing to tackle spin Down Under

 

Five reasons why Australia might beat India in Tests
Nathan Lyon had troubled India in the past. Image Courtesy: Getty

One of the vital reasons why India has been unable to win an overseas series is because of batsmen’s inability to judge the spinners. However, in the last Test against England, part-time spinner Moeen Ali troubled the Indian batting lineup a lot. He picked up 12 wickets from two matches that he had played and exposed the weakness for everyone to see.

Moreover, in the 2014-15 series, it was not the pacers who helped Australia to win the matches. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon made it possible, as he rattled the batting order. Lyon bagged 12 wickets in the Adelaide Test itself and helped Australia win the Test.

  • Inability to wrap up the tailenders

Five reasons why Australia might beat India in Tests
The inability to wrap up the tail has been India’s one of biggest problems. Image Courtesy: Getty

Here comes an exciting story for Australia, but a sad one for India. Mitchell Starc has a batting average of 52 when India last played against Australia in Australia. Not only this, Mitchell Johnson had scored two runs less than Michael Clarke in the entire series. Now, it will give everyone a clear vision that India faced a lot of issues to wrap up the tailenders.

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Moreover, the same was witnessed in the earlier series against England where Sam Curran led England’s charge in the lower order and got support from Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and James Anderson. However, India needs to prepare a robust strategy to dismiss the tailenders quickly to win the Test matches.