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The Kangaroos are that one team in world cricket which every country has always looked upon for some fierce and action-packed competition. However, the Dons of cricket have been rocked to the core this year.
The ever-so-proud Australian cricket has been jolted with probably the biggest setback in their 141-Year-long cricketing history. The embarrassment of the Newlands sandpaper-gate resulted in a shake-up in the Cricket Board, team management, the team itself, and a series of all-time low performances in the limited-overs arena.
Already in a quest to find a settled batting order after a transition period which has been longer than expected, the Aussies are left without 2 of the best modern-day batsmen for their first major Home Test series since the South African Tour in March 2018. The Aussies, without Steven Smith and David Warner, look like a team which was never a dominant force in world cricket.
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With an all-important 4-match Test Series against the mighty Indians coming up in December, the Australians look down on morale. Even though they have got world class bowlers in their side, the batting looks Inexperienced, weak and fragile, to say the least. Barring a couple of batsmen, the rest look just like fillers till Smith and Warner come back.
The Indians, on the other hand, look a confident bunch with the world's best batsman as their captain at their disposal and a plethora of batsmen hungry to score runs. And this is what gives India their best chance to lift a Test series trophy Down Under, especially with a pace battery coming off of a sensational English Tour.
Here are 4 of the most important players that need to stand up for the Australian team to continue their dominance against the Indians at home.
#1 Shaun Marsh
The older of the Marsh Brothers, Shaun, is the most experienced batsman in the current Aussie batting line-up. Having been around at the international stage for about a decade now, a huge responsibility rests on the shoulders of this southpaw to become the man in crisis for his team.
Shaun has been in some good form lately, having scored a fluent century against South Africa in the recently-concluded ODI series in Australia. He also has a good experience of playing against India at home and the captain will definitely look upon him to battle for his team out on the field.
#2 Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja will never find a better opportunity than this in his career to grab the attention of the Australian audience. He's Australia's best batsman currently and needs to prove it against a quality Indian bowling.
Khawaja has been very inconsistent in his career but has always shown signs of a great player with great stop-gap performances. This time, he has to hit the top gear for the whole series to assist a weak Aussie batting for any chances to win the series.
There are many new Test entrants in this squad and Khawaja, along with Marsh, needs to stand up to the challenge. The likes of inexperienced Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Travis Head don't look reliable enough as of now. So now is the time for Khawaja to become the hero in crisis for Australian cricket.
#3 Nathan Lyon
Nathan Lyon has been India's bowling nemesis for the last 5-6 years against Australia in Tests. In all the 3 series he has played against the Indian side, he has been Australia's highest wicket-taker. This includes the series Down Under in 2014/15.
It's fairly ironical for Indians to struggle against spin bowling but the great Nathan Lyon has always come up with fantastic performances against India. Even in India in 2017, he rocked the Indians in the first 2 matches of the series.
This series, he comes in as the leader along with Starc and 2 other fully fit pacers and he seriously threatens the Indian chances big time. India will need to play really good against him and not succumb in front of him.
#4 Josh Hazlewood
He might not be as quick as his partners or even the opposition, but even at 138-142kmph, Josh Hazlewood poses a real danger for the Indian batsmen. His consistency reminds one of the great Glenn McGrath and this makes him a dangerous pacer who matches Starc and Pat, even without that pace.
Hazlewood can get the ball to nip around the 5th stump line which has always troubled Indian batsmen abroad. Look out for the edges, slip fielders. He will be Tim Paine's go-to bowler in the series. The tall and lanky pacer impressed in his debut Test outing against India in their last tour Down Under.
#5 Mitchell Starc
He is back to full fitness, and he's back to his best, maybe best ever. Mitchell Starc will be leading the world-class bowling line-up of the Aussie team again.
After missing out on a lot of international and domestic cricket this year due to injuries, Starc made his Test comeback against Pakistan in UAE and his ODI comeback against SA in Australia where he was bowling literal thunderbolts! A whole spell of 3-4 overs consistently clocking 148-150kmph on the speed gun shows how ready this left-arm quickie is to demolish the Indian line-up.
He has lots of experience playing against Indian batsmen in the international arena as well as the cash-rich Indian Premier League and it would be interesting to see how the Indian players handle this deadly duo of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
It's gonna be fierce bowling fire vs Kohli's batting fire!
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