BGT: Australia’s brittle batting line-up means India have their nose ahead, says Shastri

New Delhi: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes Australia having a “brittle” batting line-up means India have its nose ahead in the run-up to the Boxing Day Test, starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday.

The five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is currently tied at 1-1. “I think it’s been pretty brittle. When you look at this Australian line-up, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an Australian line-up where the top order is that brittle. India have exploited that and continues to exploit it.

“I think it’s going to be a cracking game. I think India would take this, the way the series is poised. Any overseas team being 1-1, especially with the games being in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, they would take this. Going 1-1 into Boxing Day is the best-case scenario. I would say India have their nose ahead,” said Shastri to news.com.au.

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He also shared his perspective on Sam Konstas, set to make his Test debut at the MCG, after Nathan McSweeney was dropped following a lean show in the first three matches. The biggest challenge for young Konstas will be to counter Jasprit Bumrah, the current leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps.

“India is 1-1 in the series and that man (Bumrah) has almost single-handedly got India into that position. As far as Konstas goes, I think he’s very refreshing. He’s got flair, he’s got flamboyance. But Test cricket is Test cricket. I think his technique will tighten up and he will be the future for Australia.

“McSweeney was very unfortunate. I thought he did the hard yards but he’s a middle-order batsman. I see him travelling to Sri Lanka when the Australian team go there and rebuilds his career from there. But I think it’s a good move getting Konstas in because you need someone who can take the attack to the Indian team, because the punches were coming from nowhere,” added Shastri.

He’s further backed India to win their third consecutive Test series in Australia, after previously winning here in 2018/19 and 2020/21. “Massive. No team has done that in a long time. Australia hammers sides when they come here. For India to pull off three on the trot will be something special.”

“But they’ll have to play good cricket. I see Australia coming hard in this Test match, especially with the bowlers. It’s the batting that’ll be the challenge for Australia more than anything else. India have come here to win, they haven’t come here to fill in the numbers.

“Even when I was the coach, our mantra was to play extremely hard, fair and to win. You have to think of a method to beat Australia and not just compete. You’ve got to plan properly, how to take your 20 wickets. India have done that and been very aggressive.

“They’ve been in the face of Australia and give as good as they get. It’s been entertaining and feisty stuff. India have their nose ahead. I think the first day of the Boxing Day Test will determine which way the series will go,” said Shastri.

After the abrupt international retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin, Shastri signed off by saying he expects new faces in the Indian team’s batting department to come soon. “In the batting department, I can see a few new faces in there in a year or two. Jaiswal is young. Shubman Gill is pretty young, Rishabh Pant is still very young. There are quite a few other players in the mix who could come in pretty soon.”