IND vs AUS | Absence of David Warner makes Aussies top-order weak, can get exposed, feels Aakash Chopra
Warner will miss the first Test against India
|Getty
Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has asserted that the absence of David Warner, and Joe Burns' recent form has made Australia's top-order weak. He also added that if India make early inroads, they might well be able to expose Australia's middle-order with the prowess of Bumrah and Shami.
Injury has been one of the major themes of the Australia-India series with many key players missing out due to it. After India are set to miss the services of Ishant Sharma for the whole series and Rohit Sharma for at least two Tests, Australia have followed the same trail with the likes of David Warner and Will Pucovski getting injured ahead of the first Test.
Joe Burns and Marcus Harris are likely to open but the former has been struggling to buy runs of late while Harris also didn't set the world on fire in the two practice games against India. Renowned Cricket expert Aakash Chopra feels given the presence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, India can do real damage against Australia's top-order.
"I can answer this question with great confidence because there is Bumrah and Shami and whichever third pacer plays will also be good, whether it is Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav or Mohammed Siraj. As they say, fast bowlers hunt in pairs. So, your pair is already ready. There is no tension there, till the time Bumrah and Shami are there, I feel we will have the ability to rock the top order," said Chopra in a video shared on his Facebook page, reported TOI.
Chopra also added that the absence of the prolific opener David Warner, who has a great record in Tests at home, will make Australia's top-order their weak link with India fancying their chances of exposing the middle-order.
"And let's be fair, (David) Warner is not there and Joe Burns is also doing 50-50. Will Pucovski has also got a blow to his head and he was also going 50-50. So I feel their top order was anyway becoming a little weak. So if you get one or two wickets with the new ball, then you can expose their middle order even more," he said.
India are currently playing Australia A is Sydney in a pink-ball warm-up and today will be the final day of the game. India will take on Australia in the first Test which will be a day-night game starting from December 17 in Adelaide.
