Satire: 5 things that can happen in cricket in 2017

#4 Australia whitewashing India

Starc is ready for India

“Virat is a very emotional character out on the field. I guess for us as a team it's trying to get him out of the strong emotional state and try and make him, I guess, a little bit angry and ruffle his feathers and things like that.” Remember these lines from Steve Smith?

The most anticipated series in 2017, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy featuring four Test matches between India and Australia in India will be a big challenge for Virat Kohli’s men as they look to win their seventh consecutive series (yeah, if India beats the mighty Bangladeshis) under him. But, it is not as easy as people think as this Australian team has a plan for each and every individual.

Ruffling Kohli up will be a masterstroke by the Aussies as he is someone who loses his cool and gifts his wicket when someone gets under his skin. Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson and all-rounder James Faulkner have done it successfully in the past and Smith has decided to take a cue from them for the upcoming series.

Australia are known for their mind games and that is the reason why they have let the likes of Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah and Sohail Khan score runs so that the Indian batsmen will get complacent against Mitchell Starc and co. and it will allow the visiting bowlers to bring in their A-game when it is needed the most.

If they can reveal the plan they have for Virat Kohli in public a couple of months before the start of the series, just imagine how confident Smith will be against the Indian tailenders which include Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Jayant Yadav. Even if their batsmen are dismissed cheaply, the Australian bowlers are good enough to dismiss India for a very low score and win the series 4-0.