Former Australia captain and India coach, Greg Chappell, while expecting Australia to shine against India Down Under, heaped praise on India’s pace attack ahead of the Test series.
Despite crashing to Test series losses in South Africa and England this year, the Indian pacers have drawn a lot of praise from all quarters. There have also been murmurs of the current attack being the best in India’s history.
“I think India has a world class pace attack,” Chappell was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “We saw in England how well they handled the overseas conditions, and I expect them to be very competitive in Australian conditions.
To win overseas, Indian teams need to have quality pace bowlers. I think that’s been a focus for them in recent times and they’re starting to see the benefits.”
Chappell, though, sees a turnaround in fortunes for Tim Paine and Co, who are under pressure following a string of bad results in recent times. A lot of the pre-series talk has revolved around the absence of star batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner, who continue to serve their long-term bans following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
“International cricket provides plenty of challenges, but I expect a different situation in Australia this summer, in conditions we are more accustomed to,” Chappell said, brushing aside Australia’s poor record in the new era.
Barring South Africa, no team in recent years have managed to shake Australia’s dominance on home soil. Despite Virat Kohli being in brilliant form, India lost 0-2 in the Test series four seasons ago. Chappell once again sees home advantage favouring the Aussies.
He said: “The fact that we are playing at home, in conditions we know well, will be a benefit. I think we have a well-balanced bowling attack and some strong batsmen, which will mean that we will be very competitive in what promises to be a challenging series.”
India and Australia face-off at Adelaide on December 6 for the first of the four-match Test series.
