Ind vs Aus: Kohli's Limited Availability, Absence Of 2 Sharmas Pressure Young Guns To Turn Series In Blockbuster

The test series will carry great significance especially with Virat Kohli’s limited availability due to his wife Anushka’s impending baby arrival in January 2021.

KL Rahul

The upcoming ODI and T20 series between India and Australia will be a blockbuster. It begins this Friday (November 27) in Sydney, Australia. The strict COVID-19 restrictions has given the Indian team limited practice under full 14 days of quarantine. These restrictions have certainly challenged the Indian preparations for this tour but those from the Australian camp that played IPL are in the same predicament. This should ease once they go into the bubble on the 26th. The absence of Rohit Sharma and now Ishant Sharma is significant. The test series will also carry great significance especially with Virat Kohli’s limited availability due to his wife Anushka’s impending baby arrival in January 2021. The Indians should begin well and will need aggressive top order performances from Rahul and Rahane throughout the summer. The Australians have issues with a possible top order positional fight between Joe Burns and Will Pucovski to partner David Warner. The return of Warner and Smith will add strength to the batting and Tim Paine’s men will send their skipper out a potential winner at least in the tests. Norman Kochannek
(@normkoch/Twitter) The ability of Steve Smith to handle bouncers from the likes of Bumrah and Sami is a concern but assistant coach Andrew McDonald believes he can. But be wary of Steve Smiths claims that he has found his hands again. Smith has this uncanny way of using his hands to manoeuvre the ball to all parts. Some would argue a number of Indian batters do that naturally. Look out for our Indian youngsters getting their chance. Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill along with Mayank Agarwal should come into their own. They are well equipped to handle Australian wickets. How will the Indian spinners perform in the series. A lot will depend on the clever use of them throughout the series. The ODIs will be very exciting with India slightly ahead. The T20s should also be India’s for the taking. The Vodafone test series could prove difficult without Kohli and the 2 Sharma’s unavailability. The experience of Pujara and Rahane will play a more important role and they will need to stand up for their country. All in all India have a lot of work to make this series a success and will need the youthful players to shine. They have had success last series and are expected to repeat the dose. Blockbuster of a series indeed.