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Having first toured in 1947-48 but never won on our soil, this looks like India's best-ever chance.
The tourists are bringing their traditionally strong batting line up, but the point of difference is that this side brings some quicks with firepower. Bumrah is quick and bouncy - he should enjoy Aussie conditions - and Shami & Ishant Sharma are much improved on the last time we saw them. Looking at Ashwin's poor record on our soil, and pretty mediocre form, I reckon they'll be really tempted to play Jadeja.
Funnily enough, it's actually the batting that is being queried after some lean tours to England and South Africa. Kohli is far and away the best player in the world - his getting runs is inevitable - they'll need to find a few other centurions if they're to put pressure on our batting. I'm tipping Rohit Sharma to live up to his potential and get some runs - he's not your stereotypical Indian batsman in the way he plays the short ball and Rahane had a really good tour last time out.
It's a shame Privthi Shaw isn't playing - I reckon he's going to be a really good player.
Potential XI:
1. Rahul
2. Vijay
3. Pujara
4. Kohli
5. Rahane
6. Sharma
7. Pant
8. Jadeja/Ashwin
9. Shami
10. Bumrah
11. Sharma
We know enough about Australia - batting looks poor, bowling looks excellent. For those who haven't seen Australia's debutant Marcus Harris, he's a diminutive left handed batsman that's extremely good off his pads and plays from the back foot really well. Expect the Indian quicks to try and get it full and swinging.
Here's the XI:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Aaron Finch
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Shaun Marsh
5. Peter Handscomb
6. Travis Head
7. Tim Paine (c)
8. Pat Cummins
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Josh Hazlewood
My key battlegrounds:
-Can Australia get to 350 consistently? Khawaja is now the best player in the side and needs to dominate - can one of the others go with him? Dropping Mitch Marsh for extra batting depth was the right call.
-Can Australia restrict 6 of India's 7 batsman? Kohli WILL get runs, the key for our attack will be having him run out of partners.
-Spinner v spinner(s). Lyon comes into the series in scintillating form, Jadeja has never played a test in Australia and Ashwin averages 55 with the ball here. With it looking like both sides will play 6 batsman, both sets of slow bowlers will take on big loads - the wickets they take might define the series.
The tourists are bringing their traditionally strong batting line up, but the point of difference is that this side brings some quicks with firepower. Bumrah is quick and bouncy - he should enjoy Aussie conditions - and Shami & Ishant Sharma are much improved on the last time we saw them. Looking at Ashwin's poor record on our soil, and pretty mediocre form, I reckon they'll be really tempted to play Jadeja.
Funnily enough, it's actually the batting that is being queried after some lean tours to England and South Africa. Kohli is far and away the best player in the world - his getting runs is inevitable - they'll need to find a few other centurions if they're to put pressure on our batting. I'm tipping Rohit Sharma to live up to his potential and get some runs - he's not your stereotypical Indian batsman in the way he plays the short ball and Rahane had a really good tour last time out.
It's a shame Privthi Shaw isn't playing - I reckon he's going to be a really good player.
Potential XI:
1. Rahul
2. Vijay
3. Pujara
4. Kohli
5. Rahane
6. Sharma
7. Pant
8. Jadeja/Ashwin
9. Shami
10. Bumrah
11. Sharma
We know enough about Australia - batting looks poor, bowling looks excellent. For those who haven't seen Australia's debutant Marcus Harris, he's a diminutive left handed batsman that's extremely good off his pads and plays from the back foot really well. Expect the Indian quicks to try and get it full and swinging.
Here's the XI:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Aaron Finch
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Shaun Marsh
5. Peter Handscomb
6. Travis Head
7. Tim Paine (c)
8. Pat Cummins
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Josh Hazlewood
My key battlegrounds:
-Can Australia get to 350 consistently? Khawaja is now the best player in the side and needs to dominate - can one of the others go with him? Dropping Mitch Marsh for extra batting depth was the right call.
-Can Australia restrict 6 of India's 7 batsman? Kohli WILL get runs, the key for our attack will be having him run out of partners.
-Spinner v spinner(s). Lyon comes into the series in scintillating form, Jadeja has never played a test in Australia and Ashwin averages 55 with the ball here. With it looking like both sides will play 6 batsman, both sets of slow bowlers will take on big loads - the wickets they take might define the series.
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