-Boria Majumdar
With India missing the services of Pant and Bumrah, many believe this is Australia’s best chance. Can Smith and Marnus deal with Ashwin? Can Virat Kohli yet again bring out his best against Australia? Here is Australian legend Greg Chappell in a detailed conversation with Boria Majumdar in a special episode of Backstage With Boria.
Boria- 24 hours to go for the start of the series. India missing Pant and Bumrah. What does it take for a touring team to beat India in India and is this Australia’s best chance?
Greg Chappell- Pant and Bumrah are very important players. And India will certainly miss them. Having said that beating India in India is one of the toughest things in cricket. Yes Australia can win the series but to do so they have to be at their absolute best for the next one month. It is not simply the cricket that can win you a series in India. India drains you. If on day 5 of the Test match India is still in the contest I would back them to win each time. It is because they know how to do so in their conditions. For Australia to win they have to bowl, bat and field well in each session of the Test match for all five days and needless to say it isn’t easy. And when you have four Test matches in a month it is near impossible for any team to keep the same intensity and more so for the touring team.
Boria- There is already a lot of talk around the pitch. Should it be a turning wicket or will it be a batsman friendly wicket. Some like Ian Healy are on record saying if India prepares poor wickets and he seems to be equating poor wickets with turning wickets, India will win else if it’s a batting deck Australia will do well. What’s your take on the wicket that you think could be on offer. The home team has every reason to choose a wicket of their choice. But if it’s a rank turner like in Pune in 2017 it could be a two edged sword. The Smith hundred had led Australia to a victory.
Greg Chappell- I don’t think India will go in with a rank turner. Such a wicket makes the game a lottery. One good innings and the match can get away from you. It actually evens out the contest because the wicket will do everything and the quality of bowlers gets nullified. I also don’t think the wickets will be batsman friendly. I think it will be somewhere in between. India has two quality spinners who are both good bowlers and ones capable of doing well in their own conditions. They will not give the Australians too many lose deliveries. Australia just has Nathan Lyon. It means whoever the second spinner is or whoever bowls to complement Lyon there will be some easy runs on offer. That’s where India will have an advantage and they will surely know that. That’s why I think it will not be a rank turner. Nor will it be a batsman friendly wicket.
Boria- What are your thoughts on Virat Kohli? Given the stage he is in his career, he would want to leave a mark on a series like this.
Greg Chappell- Virat is a very good player. One of the best. And best players always want to do well in big series. In Virat’s case if you see he always wants to win against Australia and has played some of his best innings against Australia. He considers Australia as his biggest challenge and always pushes himself to deliver his best against Australia. He will have a major impact on this series. If Virat scores big runs, Australia will find it very hard to win this series.
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Boria- Your thoughts on Shubman Gill. He has been in red hot form and many believe should start for India. However, is it right to consider white ball form an index for red ball cricket?
Greg Chappell- Shubman Gill is a good player. In fact, every player who plays Test cricket for India has to be a good player. Having said that it is always an issue if you extrapolate white ball form and use it as an index for red ball cricket. Australia could well think Shubman Gill is the weaklink. Frankly it is not about what you think or what I think or what a billion people in India think. It is all about what Shubman Gill thinks in his mind. Does he consider himself a good player and ready for this series or does he have self doubt? If he has self doubt it will be a problem for him and India. If he considers himself good enough, he can certainly do well.
Boria- Finally, what’s your prediction? Who is your money on?
Greg Chappell- The easy answer is to say India will win because they are playing at home. Also, I am not a betting man so I won’t put my money on anyone. Having said that if I have to give you a prediction I will say India will go on to win the series but I hope Australia will make it hard for them. Really hard.