By: Tarish Bhatt
The next three months or so are going to be massive for India. They would not only be locking horns with some tough opponents, but would also be aiming to get the combinations right ahead of the World T20.
Playing Australia in their backyard is not going to be easy, especially seeing Team India’s recent record against the World Champions. India were left bruised and beaten when they last faces Australia.
This time, however, India would be having a good opportunity to return some favours, seeing Australia are not the same team which they were when India last faced them Down Under.
Australia are without Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Shane Watson. Still, there is no questions on the depth of Australia’s bench strength.
India, meanwhile, is also a young team, and playing on Australian pitches would be different challenge for them, especially for players like Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Manish Pandey.
Team India skipper MS Dhoni, however, insisted that he would be using the Australia series for getting the combinations right before his team head for the bigger assignment, the World T20.
“Australia is a competitive side. When you compete against Australia, you always gain more experience,” Dhoni said. “And with a few youngsters around, it will be interesting to see them perform.”
“It’s good to have 3 T20s after the ODI series as we have ample opportunity to try different players in different slots.”
“Then we will be in a better position to finalise the playing XI at the start of the T20 World Cup. It’s an exciting time and a very important three and half months are ahead.”
