Former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Ian Healy feels the visitors won’t be able to win in the tough Indian conditions by being conservative. Healy believes the Pat Cummins-led team will have to adopt an aggressive approach and take the opposition by its horns.
It will be interesting to note Australia’s fast bowling combination as they will be without the services of fast bowlers such as Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. The visitors might have to play Scott Boland and Lance Morris in the playing XI and they don’t have much experience of playing in the difficult Indian conditions, where the pitches are not conducive for seam bowling.
Meanwhile, Australia last won a Test series in India back in 2004 when Adam Gilchrist led the team. Since then, Australia has won a single Test match (in Pune in 2017) in Indian conditions. Thus, the visitors will have their work cut out against the potent home team.
“First Test, we’ve just got Cummins,” Healy said on SENQ Breakfast radio. “We might play two spinners or may not, which would mean we’d need Boland and Morris.
“I don’t think we win in India by being conservative, but I think just Cummins and Morris in together only is maybe not enough. We’ve only won one Test (in India) since 2004.”
Meanwhile, Healy recently commented that Australia should win the series if India prepares sporty pitches.
On the other hand, Josh Hazlewood stated that the likes of Scott Boland and Lance Morris are excited to play in the Indian conditions.
“Scotty has bowled plenty at the MCG when it was a flat wicket, it probably wasn’t swinging or reverse swinging so he knows how to work hard for a long period of time.”
“You’ve got Lance Morris who has worked hard on reverse swing for the last month and then a nice lead-in here with a few sessions. The guys are excited first of all to play in the subcontinent, they both haven’t yet, but they’re very well qualified to do so.”
The first Test match between India and Australia begins on February 9 at Nagpur.
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