After losing to New Zealand 0–3 in the recently finished Test series, the Indian cricket team’s hitters have been heavily criticized. The majority of India’s hitters had difficulty against the spinners, and both experts and fans criticized even veterans like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Kapil Dev, the legendary captain of India, suggested that the batters “go back to the basics” because he thinks that continuous practice is the only way for them to get better.
“Return to the fundamentals. Practice, practice, and more practice. It will not happen if you say that sitting in the room will make me better. Simply practice more if you are having a difficult time. You will get better the more you practice,” Kapil told.
In the meantime, former captain Ricky Ponting believes Australia will defeat India 3-1 to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy because, without Mohammed Shami, the visitors will view taking 20 wickets in a Test as their “biggest challenge.” With India having won all four of the Border-Gavaskar series since 2014–15, including the historic victories Down Under in 2018–19 and 2020–21, Australia is eager to end their winless streak.
However, Ponting thinks the hosts now have a better chance of defeating India after the country suffered the historic low of a first-ever whitewash by losing 0–3 to New Zealand. Regarding Australia’s prospects, Ponting stated on the ICC Review Show, “Probably more so now (than before).”
Ponting feels that Shami’s injury, which has kept him out of action since last November, creates a significant gap in India’s bowling attack, which also includes Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, and Harshit Rana, who has not played yet.
“Shami just leaves such a big hole in that bowling group,” Ponting remarked. In August of that year, there was still some speculation about Shami’s suitability. “I believe that India’s largest obstacle will be taking 20 wickets in a Test match. With their current lineup of hitters, I believe they will bat effectively enough out here. Ponting praised Australia as a more cohesive team but backed India to be more than a pushover when the series begins in Perth on November 22. Ponting said, “I believe India will win a Test match somewhere out of the five Test matches.”
Although we know that Australia is a very difficult team to defeat at home, I still believe that they appear a little more settled and experienced now. Thus, I will continue to use the 3-1.
