India will do battle with Australia for the next three months in all three formats of the game. NERINA DREYER previews the much-anticipated clash between two cricket giants.

India were hugely successful when last in Australia and will be out to prove that their success on the 2018-19 tour wasn’t due to the fact that David Warner and Steve Smith weren’t playing after being banned for their involvement in Sandpapergate.

Australia players to watch:

Steve Smith and David Warner are back and the former has already fired some shots saying he is in the form of his life.

Australia’s success will rely heavily on these two as both can be dangerous in any format of the game.

Warner had a decent IPL in the UAE, scoring 548 runs in 16 matches. Smith, on the other hand, was below average with only 311 runs in 14 matches.

Glen Maxwell‘s form has also been been very poor, but he still has the ability to change a match in a single over with either bat or ball.

Marcus Stoinis scored 352 runs and took 13 wickets in 17 IPL matches and will be looking to take that form into the series against India.

India players to watch:

Jasprit Bumrah was impressive during the IPL yet again, scalping 27 wickets in fifteen matches for the Mumbai Indians to finish as the second-best wicket-taker in the tournament.

Bumrah did not feature in the 2019 ODI series against Australia, but was the leading wicket-taker in the Test series. 

Another star bowler for India is Yuzvendra Chahal whose best ODI bowling figures were against Australia – 6-42 during the 2018-19 series.

Virat Kohli will want to make his mark in the ODIs and T20Is as he is leaving Australia at the end of the first Test to attend the birth of his child.

KL Rahul was in the form of his life during the IPL. He amassed 670 runs in only 14 matches to finish as the tournament’s top-scorer. If his form continues, the Aussie bowlers will be in a lot of trouble.

In the past, it has always been India’s batsman vs Australia’s bowlers, but India are taking a very good bowling attack to Australia this year. This will make for a very interesting series.

Schedule

ODIs:

27 Nov Sydney (D/N)

29 Nov Sydney (D/N)

2 Dec Canberra (D/N)

T2I0s:

4 Dec Canberra (N)

6 Dec Sydney (N)

8 Dec Sydney (N)

Tests:

17-21 Dec Adelaide (D/N)

26-30 Dec Melbourne

7-11 Jan Adelaide

15-19 Jan Brisbane