Team India’s current coaching staff, led by Gautam Gambhir, have been severely criticised following the back-to-back Test defeats to New Zealand in the ongoing home series. But in Australia, a lot will rely on how well India’s superstars turn up, believes Matthew Hayden.
The distinguished former Australia opener senses the big names will be back with their A-game as the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy kicks off in Perth next month.
“Everyone looks at the coaching staff, but I think those players there have to lift their game. The senior players who have been here and done it before, like Rohit (Sharma) the captain and Jasprit Bumrah the vice-captain.
“When you look back to the kind of the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy (in 2020-21), some of the younger Indian bowlers were fantastic, weren’t they? When they played at the Gabba (in Brisbane), it looked like a second or third-string Indian side and at the helm of that was a raging Rishabh Pant.
“So, at the moment I’d just be looking more at when these superstars are going to get that phase of their game back. When you’re looking at the big names, they tend to stand up on the big stage and on big occasions, and I sense that that will be in the first Test of the Perth,” Hayden
told select media during a virtual news conference organised by Cricket Australia
on Wednesday.
The much-anticipated India-Australia series will be throwing plenty of questions, Hayden thinks. “You’ve got a showdown of two quality high-end pace batteries with lots of experience. Still, there are lots of questions.
“There will be a lot of Jasprit Bumrah (bowling)
and how he holds up throughout the (Australian) summer will be key as we understand what a huge asset he is to
the Indian cricket team, just like Pat Cummins and his performance. The match-ups are just irresistible.
“Not to mention the conjecture around the experienced batting units, in particular (Virat) Kohli and Rohit Sharma and if they will be able to lift their game post their retirement from T20 cricket. What’s our opening combination going to look like and will it be able to withstand the pressures and rigours of a world-class bowling attack?
“The venues and the order of the venues — Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and so forth — certainly a different looking Australian summer and a very different order of the summer, but equally tantalising,” Hayden explained.
India, though, can also be “vulnerable”, Hayden remarked, which their series loss to New Zealand has shown, also bringing in some competition to the World Test Championship final race.
