Kolkata: Some 32 winters ago, India were pushovers trying to make a foray into the top rung of competitive cricket holding the hands of yesteryear stalwarts Mohammed Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, et al. Cut to 2024, India are no more 'nobodies', but one of the dominant forces in world cricket, be it in Tests, ODIs or T20s. The men in Blue landing Down Under are cushioned with a T20 World Cup title and a second-place finish in the ICC World Cup. India's limited-over exploits may have earned plaudits for them, but red-ball cricket still remains the top priority as far as the game's quality is concerned despite the cacophony of white-ball cricket.
The last time India played a five-Test series Down Under was back in 1992 when the team boasted the likes of Kapil Dev, Azharduddin, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar and Sachin Tendulkar. Still, India got a clinical drubbing losing four Tests in the series. But then, in 1996-97 (the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy), India defeated the mighty Aussies at home relying mainly on tweakers on slow turners much to the dislike of the invincible Australians.
India eventually turned the tables on Steve Waugh's Australia, considered one of the best Test sides ever. After losing the first Test in 2000-01, Sourav Ganguly's India thumped them in the next two to win the series thus halting Waugh's final frontier. That's history, but one cannot rest on laurels to stay afloat in sports, let alone cricket.
Again, India tour Australia to play five Test matches, of which the first is set to get underway in a few hours at the Opus Stadium in Perth with a team as brittle as possible. With captain Rohit Sharma skipping duty for personal reasons and premier fast bowler Mohammed Shami being ruled out for the initial part of the series, India stare at uncertainty as they take guard on Friday morning.
However, this time the morale is high as it's a chance for the Aussies to turn the tables on India, the country they failed to beat in Tests in a decade. India last lost a Test series against Australia back in 2014-15. Since then, it has been raining wins for India both home and away.
The baton passed from Mahendra Singh Dhoni to Virat Kohli, and then subsequently to Rohit Sharma, but the fate of the Kangaroos didn't change. Kohli, walking into the sunset, will have the challenge to better his spectacular show Down Under. Then the prolific young batter clobbered four centuries in his first outing in Australia though India lost.
Australia are faced with a peculiar conundrum this time to set the record straight as they couldn't beat India in their own backyard for 10 years now. They earlier had a similar nightmare against the West Indies for 13 years from 1979-92. During this period, Australia never won a Test series against the Caribbeans Down Under. Now, it remains to be seen whether Pat Cummins' team can resurrect the scenario and break the shackles against Jasprit Bumrah and Co. Virat Kohli will be looking to keep his record intact in Australia in probably his last Test series Down Under.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir will be without the services of two players — Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami — in Perth. But chances are bright that both will join the squad in the latter part of the series. Sharma is expected to join the squad in Perth itself on November 24 while Shami may need some more time to get into the groove. The premier fast bowler has been asked to play domestic cricket to be match-fit. Shami has been included in the Bengal squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and may get a look in the series later. So is the situation for captain Sharma, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and a few others who are already in the fag end of their careers.
As far as the first XI is concerned, grapevine says India will play three pacers — Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep — along with one bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Ashwin is likely to be the only spinner. Besides the talismanic Kohli and Sharma, the spotlight is also on coach Gambhir after India were whitewashed 3-0 against New Zealand at home recently.
India vs Australia: Test series schedule
1st Test: Australia vs India (Perth, November 22-26)
2nd Test: Australia vs India (Adelaide, December 6-10)
3rd Test: Australia vs India (Brisbane, December 14-18)
4th Test: Australia vs India (Melbourne, December 26-30)
5th Test: Australia vs India (Sydney, January 3-7, 2025)
