Team India is set to tour Australia for a much-anticipated five-match Test series later this year. Historically, Australia has held an edge over India in Test bilateral series. However, they have not managed to defeat India, whether at home or away, since the 2014-15 series Down Under.
In fact, during this period, India has emerged victorious in all four Test series against Australia, including consecutive wins on Australian soil. Former Team India chief selector Chetan Sharma believes that the Rohit Sharma-led side will make Australia sweat in their own backyard during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Sharma, who served as chief selector during India’s last tour of Australia, feels that the visitors will have the upper hand over the hosts, having dominated the Pat Cummins-led side in recent encounters.
“There was a time when we used to think about what would happen when we went to Australia. How will we perform? And for the last two tours, we went to Australia and beat them. Previously, Australia used to take us lightly but now they know they have to play out of their skins to beat India. We have built that reputation.
We are currently the No.1-ranked team in the world. We will not only will give them a tough fight but we will make them run in their own backyard (hum unko bhagaynge unke hi ghar mein). I have a lot of confidence in the players,” Sharma stated in an interview with RevSportz.
Sharma also highlighted that the Jasprit Bumrah-led bowling attack will be the team’s key asset this time around. Notably, this will mark the first time since the early 1990s that India will compete in a five-match Test series in Australia.
India has won the last two tours of Australia with identical scorelines of 2-1. In the 2018-19 series, the Virat Kohli-led team clinched the final and decisive Test in Sydney. Interestingly, Kohli participated in only one match during the last tour, as Ajinkya Rahane led the team to victory in his absence.
