Former Australia cricketer Geoff Lawson is looking forward to a cracking Australia versus India Test series, beginning on December 6 in Adelaide.
In a column for the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, Lawson wrote that world No 1 India will start the Test series as favourites but only just.
Australian cricket is still recovering from the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March, which saw three of their Test cricketers handed lengthy bans by Cricket Australia.
Former captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were banned for a year, while opener Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
Australia’s form has dipped since then. They have lost two out of three Tests (one drawn), seven out of eight ODIs and seven out of 13 T20Is since the suspensions. However, Lawson still expects a closely fought Test series against India.
“Both teams have the bowling to get results, both teams’ batting looks fragile,” he wrote in his column. “Other than [Virat] Kohli, there are no other guaranteed contributors in either side (unless Usman Khawaja has returned to full fitness and he continues on where he left off against Pakistan).
“India start favourites, just. Australia won’t mind that.
“The fans need a close, tense series to help flush the grime away from a murky year, and I reckon they just might get one,” he added.
Lawson also expects Kohli to continue with his brilliant run-scoring form in Australia. The India captain leads the scoring chart this year in Tests with 1,063 runs in 10 matches, including four centuries and as many fifties at an average of 59.
“Whether Kohli is chirpy or mute, cheery or manic – he will make runs,” Lawson wrote. “You only need primary-school body-language skills to work out how competitive he is. To state the bleeding obvious, he is the key batsman.
“Targeting the captain is just a byproduct of keeping him quiet. If Australia can keep his average at 50, like Don Bradman during Bodyline, then that will be a success.”
Lawson also praised the Indian bowling line-up, which has pace, swing, seam, finger and wrist spin. “India have the tools to defend modest totals,” he wrote.