India Should Address Batting Deficiencies Before Australia Tour: Ian Chappell

Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell feels that India needs to address their batting woes before the start of their Australia tour. Batters were found wanting in England as India suffered a 4-1 in the five-match Test series loss.

Team India skipper Virat Kohli and his boys are eager to register their maiden Test series victory Down Under. They have come close to winning the series on previous occasions. But have never managed to pull off a series victory.

“India now have to look on rehabilitating their reputation in the highly anticipated series against Australia. But the batting inadequacies have to be addressed,” ESPNcricinfo.com quoted Chappell as saying.

 

“While Australia’s batting is questionable, with their two best players, Steven Smith and David Warner, missing through suspension, the bowling attack is still extremely strong,” he added.

India is all set to tour Australia later this year from 21^st November to 18^th January.

Australia has some issues with their batting order without the presence of their two premier batsmen Steven Smith and David Warner.

Ian Chappell feels the Australian bowlers can pose a tough challenge to the Indian batsmen

“If Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Patrick Cummins and Nathan Lyon remain fit then the Indian batsmen will be in for a challenging time. In England, it was moving through the air and off the seam that created regular problems for them – apart from Virat Kohli. But it will be the extra bounce in Australia that sorts the men from the men,” he maintained. 

India lost the four-match Test series 2-0 on their last tour of Australia in 2014-15.

“A confident and in-form Rohit Sharma would be an ideal player to bolster the batting in Australia. His authoritative horizontal bat shots are perfectly designed to cope with the testing extra bounce. But sadly Rohit has never really come to grips with batting in Test cricket. Selecting him for the tour would be a gamble,” Chappell remarked.

He termed India’s 4-1 loss to England as a “missed opportunity. It was a great performance by the Indian bowlers. However, their batters weren’t able to support them well.

“India should view their disappointing 4-1 series loss to England as a missed opportunity. They were highly competitive in the series – apart from a disastrous loss at Lord’s – but the squad had enough ability to do better,” Chappell stated.

“The batting was disappointing and especially the way they played spin bowling in Southampton. A great opportunity went begging when their failure to be more proactive against Moeen Ali meant a chance to level the series was squandered,” Chappell concluded.

India competed very hard in the series but eventually fell well short of winning the series against. They had a great chance of winning the series. However, they couldn’t make it possible with their performances of the batters.

With the No.1 Test team India set to tour Australia, Ian Chappell believes the series would get interesting.