By Ravi Shastri
A Test series between India and Australia is the hardest cricket out there in this current era. And there is no doubt that the one starting in Nagpur on Thursday will be a mouth-watering contest, which cricket buffs the world over are salivating over already.
As a player, there’s no country I enjoyed playing against more than the Australians. It was tough cricket. It tested you. There was no let-up.
Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins with the Border–Gavaskar Trophy on Thursday.Credit:Getty Images
It’s been the same over the last decade or so, especially after we went to Australia in 2014 and held our own after losing the first two Tests of that series. Since then, India have gone to Australia and beaten them twice. And no team has given the Indians a run for their money in their backyard quite like Australia have in recent years, especially that last tour in 2017. Other teams come and succumb to the pressure put on them in these conditions. Not Australia. They will not give an inch.
There’s a lot to play for again with India having their sights set on that World Test Championship final, and Australia hurting after the two back-to-back series defeats to India on home soil in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
The first Test will set the tone for the rest of the series. India will need to come hard at Australia from the very start. For Australia, it’s about soaking in that early onslaught and seeing it through. If they can do that, then they have every chance of winning their first series here since 2004.
There is already a lot of talk about the surface in Nagpur. I think it’s a bit overdone. A pitch is a pitch, and it will be the same for both teams. During my time as Indian coach, we had made it a point to not bother too much about the surface, whether it had grass or mud on it.
The pitch has been a big talking point ahead of the first Test in Nagpur.Credit:Getty Images
I have no qualms in a home team having pitches that will suit the ammunition they have in their arsenal, whether it’s in Australia or in India. You see the Indian team, and it’s very obvious that their major ammunition is in the spin department. So, it’s natural that they’d want the pitches to start turning early in the piece.
It should happen everywhere. That’s the challenge of Test cricket. You go to New Zealand and some of those pitches are green enough to graze on and can have anywhere between 14-18 millimetres of grass. And nobody complains about them.
I, in fact, would love a ball, some 10 minutes before the lunch break on day one, to pitch on leg stump and knock off-stump out. A proper ripper. That will just set the stage up perfectly for the rest of the Test. It could be R Ashwin ripping one past an Aussie left-hander or Nathan Lyon doing the same to an Indian batter. That doesn’t matter.
We call it “slow seam” in India. We play on pitches around the world where the ball seams around from start to finish every day. So, what’s wrong if the ball starts turning from the very first session? When you travel across the ocean, and come to the northern hemisphere, you need to know that the grass is brown. You just have to accept it and get on with it.
On that note, I also believe that for all the stars who will be on show from both sides, the two guys who will decide this series for me are Ashwin and Lyon.
If Ashwin has a terrific time with ball and bat, then India will romp home. If Lyon has a great time on these pitches, then Australia will leave these shores with the series trophy.
Ravi Shastri is a former captain and coach of the Indian cricket team.
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