Batting severely weakened following the suspension of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia still possess the essential ingredient to win Test matches. Their bowling remains unaffected and in Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood they have one of the best pace attacks in the world. Add off-spinner Nathan Lyon to the mix and this becomes one of the most formidable bowling arsenals anywhere in the world.
Against a batting line-up which had only Virat Kohli scoring consistently in the eight Tests that India played away from home this year, Australia’s bowlers would fancy their chances. In their last home series, against England last season, pacers were instrumental in the 4-0 win. Starc took 22 wickets, Hazlewood 21 and Cummins 23. Against a batting order shaky overseas, they would be expected to deliver again.
However, there is a major worry about the Australian attack — fitness and injuries. For them to trouble India, they need their premier pacers to remain fit.
Starc has always been injury prone. In the last five Test series, he broke down midway four times. He missed the fourth Test against South Africa with a stress fracture in his right leg in March-April and before that, was forced to skip the fourth Test against England with a bruised heel.
Hazlewood and Cummins did not feature in the last Test series against Pakistan in UAE due to back injuries. The latter has a history of back-related problems. It was not a surprise that the team management decided to rest the trio for a Sheffield Shield match in Perth ahead of the first Test in Adelaide. What might also worry them is the lack of recovery time for these bowlers. There are just three days between the first and second Tests and three more between the third and fourth.
Former India bowler and coach at the MRF Pace Foundation, TA Sekhar feels if one of these bowlers get injured during the series, Australia will be in trouble because they don’t have quality back-up. Peter Siddle, who has always been an irregular member of the team, and the uncapped Chris Tremain are the other pacers in the squad.
“It’s very important for Australia’s pacers to remain fit for the entire series. They (Starc and Cummins) bowl 145-plus, and there are chances of them getting injured. The other problem is that Australia do not have similar back-ups for Starc and Cummins in case they get injured. If any of the two get injured early, India will heave a sigh of relief as they are difficult to handle in Australia,” Sekhar told this newspaper.
With the fragile nature of their pace unit and no notable back-up, Australia have to hope that the top three stay fit and Lyon keeps up the good work he has been doing. It won’t be surprising to see them resort to short-pitched deliveries since that is perceived as a weakness of the Indians.
“Australia are a good bowling side and they know how to bowl in their conditions. They relish the bounce and Indian batsmen are not too comfortable with it. At the moment, their main strength is bowling. The batting is not so strong. If Australia are to beat India, bowlers have to do the job for them,” said former India cricketer
Roger Binny.
Considering the history of breaking down of the fast bowlers, Australians would keep fingers crossed. Even if one goes missing, it will put additional pressure on the rest.
