australia renew rivalry with cricket top dogs india
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

After India stretched their unbeaten run

Australia renew rivalry with cricket top dogs India

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Australia renew rivalry with cricket top dogs India

India stretched their unbeaten run to 19 Tests this month
Pune - Arab Today

Steve Smith's Australia have the chance of halting India's Test juggernaut in a series between the world's top two sides starting this week which promises to be yet another feisty encounter between the arch rivals.

After India stretched their unbeaten run to 19 Tests this month, several former stars are even daring to predict another whitewash against Australia who have a miserable recent record on the sub-continent.

Australia meanwhile have been unusually respectful of their opponents in the build-up but Smith expects his team to greet India with a barrage of sledging when the contest begins in Pune on Thursday.

"The guys are in a great frame of mind, we're ready to go. We're pumped," vice-captain David Warner said after Australia drew a weekend warm-up against India A.

Australia have a chance of knocking India off the top of the Test rankings but Virat Kohli's men have won their last six series and are overwhelming favourites to continue that run.

Australia's last tour of India in 2013 under captain Michael Clarke was a disaster as they went down 4-0 and four of the team were sent home after refusing to do homework set by coach Mickey Arthur.

Team spirit has recovered under Smith's captaincy, but they were thrashed 3-0 last year in Sri Lanka when their shortcomings against spin were exposed along with their lack of a match-winning slow bowler.

While their former paceman Glenn McGrath used to be notorious for getting up the opposition's nose by forecasting clean sweeps, Australia have been getting a taste of their own medicine.

India's ex-captain Sourav Ganguly has predicted a 4-0 win for the hosts while veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has called Smith's team the weakest ever Australian squad.

- 'Bradman of Bowling' -

Indian confidence is largely founded on the form of skipper Kohli who has hit four double centuries since July.

They also possess the current best bowler in the world in Ravichandran Ashwin whom McGrath's old captain Steve Waugh recently branded the "Bradman of Bowling", the ultimate compliment by an Australian.

Kohli's recent form has also drawn comparisons with the late Donald Bradman, who averaged 99.94 in Tests, but never played in India.

And Warner, not one to shirk from an onfield confrontation, has warned his teammates not to wind up Kohli.

"Virat Kohli is one of those players, if you niggle at him, it either makes him better or if you get under his skin, he'll probably get even better," said Warner.

Nevertheless, Smith wants his players to get in the face of the Indians, telling reporters: "If they want to get into a battle verbally then, if that gets the best out of them, go for it".

Ever since Harbhajan was accused of calling Andrew Symonds a "monkey" in the 2008 Sydney Test, matches between the sides have never been far from boiling point.

Harbhajan showed he has lost none of his abililty to stir things up by dismissing the 2017 vintage as a pale comparison to its predecessors.

- 'Weakest ever tourists' -

"In my opinion, looking at the composition, this is the weakest Australian side to tour India. I don't think this team has the wherewithal to cope with a quality Indian side in the Indian conditions. It can again be 4-0," Harbhajan told the Press Trust of India.

The last series between the two sides ended in a 2-0 victory for Australia Down Under but their humbling at the hands of an unfancied Sri Lanka is likely to weigh heavily on their minds.

Much will depend on whether the spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe can have an impact. They claimed four and three wickets respectively in the tourists' only warm-up match in Mumbai are expected to play in Pune.

India are expected to stick with the line-up that comprehensively beat Bangladesh in Hyderabad earlier this month. 

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.

Australia: Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Source: AFP

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

australia renew rivalry with cricket top dogs india australia renew rivalry with cricket top dogs india

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

australia renew rivalry with cricket top dogs india australia renew rivalry with cricket top dogs india

 



GMT 16:17 2018 Thursday ,30 August

Five Saudi women pilots granted GACA licences

GMT 13:10 2012 Sunday ,05 February

UBL victorious in President\'s Cup

GMT 09:29 2017 Sunday ,23 July

Khalid bin Hamad League hailed

GMT 17:59 2016 Monday ,29 August

Bomb Hits Empty Police Research Center in Brussels

GMT 09:49 2017 Sunday ,26 November

Survivors offer horrific accounts of mosque carnage

GMT 12:58 2011 Monday ,06 June

Ban calls for restraint after Golan shooting

GMT 11:53 2012 Thursday ,11 October

Colorful sea creatures

GMT 10:01 2011 Tuesday ,31 May

VW makes official offer for MAN trucks

GMT 15:35 2012 Friday ,03 August

LEXUS LS 460: instantly responsive

GMT 00:44 2017 Tuesday ,21 February

Love Japanese pop culture? Head to Abu Dhabi

GMT 10:00 2011 Sunday ,14 August

Ayoon Wa Azan (Their Wars Have Moved Past Us)

GMT 11:30 2017 Saturday ,14 January

The EU-Canada trade pact: some key questions

GMT 23:43 2016 Saturday ,17 December

UAE ambassador attends Canada's new year reception

GMT 15:18 2017 Wednesday ,23 August

Trump puts Pakistan on notice

GMT 10:55 2018 Monday ,15 January

Ahed Tamimi: Palestinian heroism in microcosm

GMT 02:01 2016 Friday ,20 May

Dortmund out to ruin Pep's final Bayern game
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice