Former Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir feels India have the bowling attack to trouble the Australian cricket team even with Steve Smith and David Warner in the ranks.
“India has got the bowling attack to rattle the Australian batting line-up even with David Warner and Steve Smith, but yeah, it’s going to be a different challenge than what it was last time around, so you would want Virat Kohli to fire plus the bowlers as well because it’s the bowlers that will win you the Test matches,” Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying in Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.
India have a formidable pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma with Ravichandran Ashwin being the spinning option.
India beat Australia 2-1 on their last tour Down Under to record their first-ever Test series win over Australia. But many believed that the absence of Smith and Warner made the difference.
Kohli, who won a series in Australia on his first full tour as a captain, would be hoping to repeat the feat to silence any doubters, but Gambhir feels it will be harder this time around.
“Whether it was his first tour, whether it was the second tour, this time around, obviously, he would be gearing up for it because it’s going to be a different challenge with David Warner and Steve Smith coming back into the Australian Test line-up,” Gambhir said.
India is scheduled to play the first Test match on the tour at Brisbane from December 3-7 before playing three more Tests at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The final match at Sydney will be a day-night affair, the first one between the two sides.
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