Dubai: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who played a vital role in the Indian cricket team's back-to-back Test series wins down under, showed confidence in Rohit Sharma-led side under the newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir will script history, making it a hat-trick of Test series triumphs in Australia.
India have emerged victorious in the last two Test series in Australia and have held onto the iconic Border-Gavaskar trophy since 2015, since Kangaroos claimed a 2-0 series victory on home soil in 2014-15.
Shastri feels that Men in Blue are capable of a hat-trick of Test series triumphs in Australia, emphasising the quality of its bowlers and the strong batting lineup that has the likes of captain Rohit Sharma and batting stalwart Virat Kohli.
"With (Jasprit) Bumrah fit, (Mohammed) Shami fit, you've got Mohammed Siraj there. You've got the likes of (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja and some very good bench strength as well... One can't wait for that series to start and (I think) India can do the hat-trick (of series victories in Australia)," Shastri told ICC.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Australia's legendary captain Ricky Ponting had recently predicted that the Pat Cummins-led side will bounce back stronger this season and will seal the series 3-1. In contrast, Shastri said that Indian bowlers can get the job done provided their batters are up to the challenge. "It is going to be one heck of a series and India have every chance of making it a hat-trick because they've got their bowlers fit and if they can bat well, they can tickle (beat) Australia once again," said the former India coach.
India will square off against the reigning World Test Champions for the five-match test series Down Under, starting with the Test at Perth in November this year. Shastri feels that a hurting home side would be more than keen to re-claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia over five Test matches is going to be a humdinger. Remember, India have beaten Australia twice on the last two tours and Australia have not had a hand in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in almost a decade and that's the reason why everyone will be waiting for these two heavyweights of Test match cricket over the last five to eight years to go head-to-head," added Shastri.
"We know what Australia will be wanting (revenge). They will be thirsty, they'd be looking to go at the throats of the Indians because they've been beaten there (in Australia) twice. The attack is pretty much the same. One of the greatest fast bowling attacks -- (one of the greatest) all-round attacks when you add Nathan Lyon there - in a long, long time. And one of the best in the history of the game. They'll be looking for those 20 wickets, game after game to help Australia win the series," Shastri quipped.
"It's going to be India's batting against the Australian fast bowlers. And of course, the Indian bowling attack is going to be something everyone will be waiting to see," he added.
