India tour to Australia 2018-19 [Preview]

India comfortably brushed aside West Indies in the Test and ODI series played at home. The side is all set to tour Australia in the month of November to play three T20s, four Tests followed by three-match ODI series. The visitors will kick start their tour with three-match T20I series that will begin from 21^st November.  The three games will be played at Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

After the conclusion of the T20I series, both sides will fight it out in whites for the Border Gavaskar Trophy in a four-match Test series that is slated to begin from 6^th December. The venues selected for the Test series are Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.India currently holds the Border Gavaskar Trophy after winning the home series in 2017. Australia looked weak on the batting front against Pakistan in the UAE but hosts will be relieved to playing at home.

India will certainly be favorites to win the series as Australia will be without the likes of David Warner and Steven Smith. Virat Kohli and co. failed to win a single Test on their last trip to Australia in 2014. India’s record in Australia is not that good as the visitors last won a Test match in Australia in 2008 at Perth. For hosts, Australia’s recent record will give them hope as they have been decent in Test cricket at home.

Australia Test Captain Tim Paine will be under immense pressure after a poor show against Pakistan in the two-match series played in UAE. Usman Khuwaja, Travis Head and Tim Paine were positives for Australia in the batting department.

Usman Khuwaja averages above 50 in the Test matches played at home. He did suffer an injury but will recover in time for the first Test against India. Khuwaja was the leading-run scorer for Australia on their tour to UAE earlier this month.

Shaun Marsh and Travis Head will need to produce runs for Australia in this four-match Test series. Head produced credible performances against Pakistan in UAE. Marsh certainly has gone off the boil after his majestic Ashes series last year. He looks completely out of form and has failed to score a half-century in the last six Test matches. The left-hander will certainly be keen to score runs in the four-match series against India.

Mitchell Marsh also try to play Sheffield Shield to gain some confidence with bat and ball ahead of Australia’s clash against India in the four-match Test series. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc form a lethal combination with the ball for Australia. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has been splendid form for Australia in Test cricket.

It will be pretty interesting to see how Tim Paine’s men go in the four match series against Indian side that seemed to be in good form at the moment. Virat Kohli will be desperate for a series victory in Australia after failures in South Africa and England.

Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are premier players in the batting department and will need to do bulk of the scoring for India in Test matches. Lokesh Rahul has done well as opener alongside Prithvi Shaw in Test cricket.

Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay and Parthiv Patel make their return to the Test squad on the back of good performances at the domestic level. Sharma is an experienced and was left out of England tour as many cricket pundits criticized the selectors for such a decision. Hanuma Vihari and Prithvi Shaw have done well for India in their debut games. The youngsters will certainly be keen to make an impression on the Australian tour.

Ravichandran Ashwin is premier spin bowler for the side and formed an impressive partnership with Ravendra Jadeja for India in Test cricket. Kuldeep Yadav has been included as third spin option in the Test squad.

The pace resources look good as Mohammad Shami, Jaspreet Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav are options included in the Test squad for Australian series.

After the conclusion of Test series, India will take on Australia in a three-match one-day series that will begin from 12^th January. The venues chosen for the one-day series are Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.

The recent results suggest Indian victory is on the cards but can’t count out the Australians who still are formidable opponents in their home conditions.