HOW MUCH WILL KOHLI BE MISSED?

Few have raised doubts about Virat Kohli’s decision to invoke paternity leave and depart from Australia after the first Test in order to join his wife Anushka Sharma, as the couple expects to welcome their first child together. But many more have raised doubts about how the Indian batting line-up will cope without the credentials of their best batsman and captain. Kohli has scored six Test centuries on Australian soil and will undoubtedly be missed at the crease. But whether Kohli’s absence merely hinders India, or is instrumental enough to completely derail the batting unit, will go a long way in deciding the outcome of the four-Test series.

WHICH BOWLING JIGSAW WILL BE SOLVED FIRST?

At the start of the series, both teams face selection headaches with their bowling. The hosts will be bolstered by the return of Mitchell Starc, who will surely be joined by Pat Cummins with the new ball. But the dilemma for Australia lies in picking one or two out of James Pattinson, Sean Abbott, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Swepson. On the other hand, India also have two slots deservingly reserved, for Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, but must find the right combination from among the rest. Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav will most likely battle it out for the spinning slot alongside Ravindra Jadeja (assuming he is fit), but the bigger conundrum might yet lie around whether to go with the experience of Umesh Yadav as the third seamer or bank on the raw talents of Navdeep Saini or Mohammed Siraj.

WILL THE PINK BALL SET THE TONE?

First Tests are not always a true indicator of how an entire series will pan out. But the fact that the first Test of this series will be played under lights in Adelaide and with a pink ball (India’s debut pink ball Test overseas) makes matters considerably trickier. Add to that Australia’s imperious record of winning all seven pink ball Tests and their tendency to overwhelm opponents at the outset of a long campaign, and India could be staring down the barrel even before they get to Melbourne. Conversely, a positive start at Adelaide will add to India’s confidence from winning the T20I series and give them the perfect confidence boost they need to reassert their presence against the number one Test side in the world.

IS IT LABUSCHAGNE’S TURN TO HAUNT INDIA?

Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith, and now, potentially, Marnus Labuschagne. Unlike the first three names on the list, Labuschagne has not yet dominated India in a Test series Down Under, but everything suggests that the 26-year-old who was named Australia’s Player of the Year in the longest format earlier this year, will do just that. A lot of the Indian concern around the Australian batting rightly revolves around Smith and David Warner, but Labuschagne, who averages a staggering 63 runs per Test innings, is fast emerging as Australia’s latest batting maestro. With so much on the line in this series, it could be the ideal opportunity for Labuschagne to write his name in the golden chapters of India-Australia batting legends .

WILL THE HITMAN GET TO HAVE A HIT AT ALL?

Ro-hitman Sharma has flown down to Australia and is currently under a two week mandatory quarantine, which means he can play no part in the first two Tests. This automatically raises the question of whether Sharma will feature at all, following his quarantine assessments, for the two crucial games at Sydney and Brisbane that round off the series. Should Rohit fail to make it to the line-up, or worse still, play and fail to make an impact, question marks will be raised over India’s handling of the whole situation that involved Rohit not flying to Australia earlier and featuring in the final part of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) despite not being at an optimal level of fitness.

WILL THERE BE ANY BAD BLOOD?

Australia-India face-offs have generally been characterised by an undercurrent of competitive animosity and exemplified by intense staredowns, constant banter, and occasional sledging. But while nobody wants to see matters reach a boiling point as happened during the ugly incidents of 2007-08, there is an emerging consensus that the 2020-21 Test series will involve an atmosphere of overt reverence, even camaraderie. While IPL fans, used to seeing Indians and Aussies playing side by side in franchise cricket, may not mind, cricketing purists like former England captain Michael Vaughan have expressed their displeasure at things becoming “too nice”. Then again, all it takes is someone to ruffle a few feathers in the heat of battle to set the sparks flying once more!