India vs Australia | Best chance for India to beat Australia, says Sanjay Manjrekar

12/02/2018

Sanjay Manjrekar is extremely positive that the Indian team, led by Virat Kohli, will make the most of the series against Australia and register a rare win on Australian soil in the coming weeks. Manjrekar added that the Indian bowlers have gotten stronger in recent years as compared to earlier.

India are in line to go up against the mighty Australians away from home in a four-match Test series that is scheduled to start on December 6 in Adelaide. Not many teams have managed to outplay the Australians in their own backyard but in the absence of David Warner and Steven Smith, the home team certainly look the weaker side, on paper at least.

And former India cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar, has backed the men in blue, under the guidance of Ravi Shastri, to pull off a rare win on foreign soil and end 2018 on a high.

"Best chance for India to put up a fight in Australia. Unbelievable that India have never won a series in Australia. The first tour was in 1947 and they have never won, so that is something they must look to address for a nation that has got so much going for them. It is the most popular sport, their cricket board is the richest, they have got the support staff they wanted, but still the overseas issue continues to haunt India. It is embarrassing for India to have this kind of record. Australia are a weakened team, but like before the England tour, I am a little worried about the Indian batting," Manjrekar said in an interview to ESPNCricinfo.

Manjrekar, who represented India in 37 Test matches, lavished praise on the Indian bowlers, who he claimed would be a welcome addition to the India team of the 2000s. The 53-year old reiterated his concerns for the Indian batting line-up who will need to show some consistency in Australia after disappointing in South Africa and England earlier this year.

"I wish this team combined India's batting of the early 2000s with this bowling attack. You would have seen India beat Australia. Unfortunately, while the bowling has gotten strong, the batting has not quite measured up.

"If you look at the batting line-up, apart from Kohli, nobody is at the top of their game. The batting graph of all these batsmen was on a dip in England and that is what hurt India the most. So yes, the best bowling attack but not the best team to go to Australia, purely because of the batting," Manjrekar added.

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