Australia will be bigger challenge for India in 2020-21 tour, admits Sourav Ganguly
Even India secured their first Test series victory Down Under, Sourav Ganguly believes that the 2020-21 tour of Australia will be a bigger challenge for the Indian team. The former Indian skipper has also added that the 2018 Australia team was not the best Australian team of this generation.
After conceding Test series to South Africa and England, India capped off 2018-19 tour of Australia with a series win that Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli claimed that the greatest Indian victory of all-time. However, the magnificence of that occasion diminished a fair bit due to the absence of two of Australia's greatest batsmen - Steve Smith and David Warner - and that made Ganguly believe that the upcoming tour of Australia will be a bigger challenge for the Indian team to conquer.
"They beat Australia in 2018. But I will still expect to win in South Africa and England. And I think, they are going back to Australia next year. That's going to be a bigger challenge and I am sure with the standards that Virat sets for himself and the others, he will know at the back of his mind that the 2018 Australia team was not the best Australian team of this generation. And what he is going to face next year, which is not very far away, is going to be a different Australia," Ganguly told India Today.
"The full-strength Australia are a strong Australia. They (India) have the team to beat them. They will just have to believe and get everything right to beat them. That's what I am looking for. When I became a captain, one of our aims was to compete with the best. And I remember, 2003 in Australia against that Australia, we were outstanding. And this team has the potential to do it. They have proper fast bowlers, they have spinners, they have a champion in Virat Kohli as a batsman."
While India have become an unstoppable force in the longest format of the game, their losses in crucial limited-overs tournaments blurred the statistics. Since Kohli took over the Indian team,Ā India lost to Pakistan in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and eliminated from the semi-finals of the 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2019 ODI World Cup. GangulyĀ said he would discuss with Kohli, Ravi Shastri, and the other players for the potential causes.
"As I said, it's a very strong team. But then you have to get past the semi-final. Like in this World Cup, they played so well but lost to New Zealand one day. This is something that they will have to address. At some stage, we will speak to Virat, Ravi and then the players. You need to find a way to get past that hurdle in the big game. Whether it's a mental hurdle or whatever, they will do that. I still expect them to win in England and South Africa in Test matches, which they need to do to be a good side."