It’s hard to see India troubling Australia this summer

Date: December 9, 2014 / Posted by Glenn Mitchell

Few things other than prawns travel worse than the Indian Test team.

Today it launches its four-Test campaign for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the verdant Adelaide Oval.

The current squad will be looking to achieve something that each of its predecessors could not – a series win on Australian soil.

This encounter marks the 11^th between the two countries in Australia.

The host has won all bar three of the previous series with the remainder drawn.

Touring Indian teams have won just five of the 40 Tests played with Australia celebrating victory 26 times.

The closest India has come to a series win in the past 20 years was in the summer of 2003-04 when it levelled the four-Tests at one-all.

The tourists’ prospects were greatly bolstered that summer with neither Glenn McGrath nor Shane Warne taking any part.

The last visit in 2011-12 resulted in a 4-0 whitewash despite the touring party including names like Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman.

Is there much prospect of this current Indian squad performing any better?

Whilst Test matches are not played on paper it is nonetheless worthwhile reflecting on the statistics of the current Indian side.

The batting contains some exciting talents but the big question that hangs over them is whether they can replicate their performances on the docile Indian pitches of India in Australia.

There is no denying the ability of stand-in skipper Virat Kohli.

We saw it first-hand on the last tour when he peeled off a classy 116 in the fourth Test at Adelaide.

However four years hence he has failed to fully deliver in long-form cricket.

Whilst boasting an ODI average of 52.6 after 146 matches that have included 21 centuries his 29-Test career average sits at a disappointing 39.4.

He is coming off a woeful tour of England where he averaged just 13.4 across the five Tests.

If ever a man did not need the added burden of captaincy it is Kohli.

Like most of his top-order companions the difference between his average both home and away makes for troubling reading if you are an Indian fan.

At home Kohli averages 51 yet on the road that number drops alarmingly to 33.

Opener Murali Vijay has played 27 Tests with a home soil average of 52 as opposed to a traveling mark of 28.

Cheteshwar Pujara has scored six centuries in his 24 Tests but there is a chasm of Grand Canyon proportions between his home-and-away averages – 75 v 28.

Shikhar Dhawan burst onto the scene against Australia last year with a dashing 187 on debut at Mohali.

To date the classy left-hander has played ten Tests for a home average of 81 and an away average of 29.

Rohit Sharma – who recently blasted a world record ODI score of 264 – has played just seven Tests but you would hope that his early form is not a precursor of things to come as his two home matches have seen him average 288 while his five on the road have averaged 22.

Regular captain M S Dhoni will miss the opening Test as he recovers from a broken thumb however when he does return he will do so with a seven-Test average in Australia of a mere 18.7, having scored one fifty in 14 previous innings.

For India to have any real prospect this summer its batsmen must step up.

In their favour is the re-scheduled series now starts in Adelaide on a drop-in pitch and not on the more pace conducive Gabba deck.

The tourists will unleash on Australia the quickest bowling armoury it has yet brought down under.

The pace trio for Adelaide will be Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Varun Aaron.

Sharma is somewhat of an enigma.

At his best he can be an out-and-out match winner but sadly the gap between his best and worst performances has been far too great.

The 26-year-old is the undisputed leader of the attack this time around with 58 Tests and 178 wickets under his belt.

Ishant’s career average of 36.7 does not however instil great confidence that he will lead by example in this series.

His seven previous Tests in Australia yielded only 11 wickets at an average of 73.5.

If he does not dramatically reduce that mark during this series India will be in for considerable pain.

His two support acts are both roar at Test level.

Shami has played nine Tests since debuting in Kolkata against the West Indies a year ago.

His first two Tests against the Windies produced 11 wickets at 16.5 but his subsequent seven Tests on the road against South Africa, New Zealand and England have produced 21 wickets at 46.7.

He possesses genuine pace but not in the same league as Aaron who has been clocked at 153km/h in first-class ranks in India.

Recurrent back injuries have cruelled him of late hence he will play just his fourth Test at Adelaide despite having debuted in November 2011.

If everything falls into place for him he could be the X-factor that India so desperately needs.

The side’s most consistent quick, Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 28 wickets at 30.2 in 11 Tests – will miss the first two Tests with an ankle injury.

Off-spinning all-rounder Ravi Ashwin can expect plenty of overs this summer if his quicks cannot curtail Australia’s batting.

He is a more than useful bowler – 107 wickets at 28.6 from 21 matches – however finger-spinners have often found the going tough on Australian pitches as his nine wickets in three previous Tests at 62.8 would attest.

India will take on an emotionally scarred Australian XI at Adelaide.

Just how badly the death of Phillip Hughes’ will affect the team out in the middle may not be immediately apparent.

However, if the team can overcome its collective grief and play the quality of cricket it is capable – and do so in a manner to honour their fallen teammate – it is hard to see India breaking its duck on Australian soil, or for that matter, getting close to a series win.

First published on The Roar – theroar.com.au – on 9 December 2014