The month of November in 2020 marks the first anniversary of COVID-19 in our life. When the initial outbreak news came out in India in February, the whole world went to a standstill and no activities were successfully being done; not to mention about the stoppage in the sports. That time, anyone speaking about this resumption of Cricket would find himself in the nonsense category. But it seems like that the break has increased our hunger and wish for enjoying the moments of cricket a lot more.
Initially,
we had tasted the exciting home summer of England, the Indian Premier League
and then the PSL playoffs. But nothing is more special than watching our boys
in blue and it can’t be better than witnessing them against Australia in their
home turf. The Indian side has already flied to the country of Kangaroos to
play 3 ODIs. 3 T-20s and 4- test matches. Let’s make a look at some of the
interesting aspects of the tour: -
COULD THE T-20 SQUAD BE A BIT MORE FLEXIBLE: -
The Indians has just
finished the IPL, which went for 50days, had taken a lot from the all the
players specially the bowlers. Definitely, they had no flights, the same hotels
but still you had to do maintain the same process day in day out. And, for
India, they had gone for Bumrah, Shami, Saini, Chahar and Natarajan.
The
last name could be the one everyone should look for in the series whereas the
inclusion of the first couple of names could cost them in the last two test
matches. Bumrah & Shami had played almost all the games for their
respective sides and for them to play 3-one day, 3-t-20s and then be same
effective in the long four tests, could be the hardest job. Obviously,
Natarajan is a replacement of injured Varun Chakraborty; but last year Rahul
Chahar and before that Krunal Pandya and before so long in 2016 here was Axar
Patel in the side. These people hadn’t done anything wrong to be left out. Oh
!! they had already forgotten Kuldeep Yadav.
HARD JOB WITHOUT KOHLI?? : -
When you are playing the toughest
version of the game against the best team in their home soil and that too
without your best man in the business, no one should doubt how tough it could
be. It not only will change the mindset of the Indians but also ease the nerves
of the opponents. Yes, you have got Pujara, Rohit, Rahul, Rahane but Kohli is
in another league. He can generate fear in the team as we had seen in their
last tour. “You look at Virat Kohli and you see energy all the time…He is
almost lost in his own perfection.” The Voice of Cricket, Harsha
Bhoghle spoke about the Indian Captain last summer in Australia. The words
of the opposite number, Tim Paine spice it up purely; “You really
do just to sometimes sit back and think that’s just amazing.”
READ MORE : THE MIRACLE IS TEST CRICKET
THE FEAR FACTOR OF BOUNCERS :-
Will
Australia bowl so many bouncers to make fear in Indians?? Yes, someone asking
the same sentence 10years back would easily be fooled by making it; but not
now. “The fear factor of Aussie pitches isn’t there anymore”
quoted legendary pacer, Glen McGrath.
Also, the opening day of the series, 27th November will be the
6th year anniversary of unfortunate death of Phil Hughes. I
doubt if they bowl bouncers specially on that day.
STEVE SMITH AND LOVE AFFAIR WITH INDIAN BOWLERS: -
Sometimes, it seems
like you ask Steve Smith whom he wants to face and without a slight hesitation,
he will name the Indian bowlers. But time has flowed and the skills and
mindsets of our bowlers have changed perfectly and the batsman in the last tour
would surely tell Smith the fair stories. But, don’t know how, Smith gets run easily
against us in both countries. If he does same, then it’s going to be so tough
for the Indian bowlers because you are aiming to retain the Border-Gavaskar
Trophy and get some points in the Test Championship ladder.
BOXING DAY TEST TO RECEIVE THE CROWDS: -
Crowds are the soul of any game
and it adds an extra spice to the whole activity. But, the COVID has denied it
after its resumption. Although, the head of government in the Australian state
of Victoria has said that they are sure of having the spectators on the boxing
day test, 26th December, 2020. If it goes on plan, then it will a
great & brave move.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SERIES: -
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| ESPNcricinfo / Twitter |
The blue brigade is going to play their first series after the COVID-19 break. Their whitewash (or blackwash) series against the Kiwis seems to be like a trip in the memory lane. But the main aspect will be their place in the Test Championship as ICC has declared that the “Percentage of Points” will be the final standing to get the finalists. As a fruit of the tree, Australia (82.2) has leapfrogged India (75). On the other New Zealand and England have the best chances to spoil the party of the top two. So, the test series from now will be an entertainer for sure.
(Update**= Rohit Sharma has passed the fitness test and will fly to Australia in 1-2 days and will be available for the last two tests )
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