Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 8 (ANI): Ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, former star all-rounder Shane Watson expressed his concern for Australia as he expects India’s dynamic batting setup to cause them a handful of trouble.
In the new era of head coach Gautam Gambhir, India showed signs of dictating the terms of play with its unprecedented attacking brand of cricket.
With skipper Rohit Sharma and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal providing explosiveness and the middle order that is a blend of experience and young talent, India showed the threat it can pose against any opposition.
The recent 2-0 Test series sweep over Bangladesh indicated the high risk and high reward that India are willing to take to push for victory.
“I don’t see it [India’s batting dynamic] changing a lot. The thing when you talk about Pujara, for example, is he just doesn’t make a mistake. Whereas you’ve seen so many of these incredible batters for India – top-order batters, someone like [Yashasvi] Jaiswal, he’s scored runs very quickly, but he hasn’t made a mistake,” Watson said on the sidelines of the launch of the International Masters League in Mumbai on Tuesday as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
Watson went on to label the dynamic wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and Jaiswal as the two batters who could pose a threat to Australia in the series that will begin on November 22 in Perth.
“For me, with the calibre of batters that India have got and the skill they’ve got, there’s no reason why they can’t combine that: putting pressure on bowlers, score quickly, but also not make mistakes, which we’ve seen those Indian batters, in particular, Jaiswal [do],” Watson said. “And we’ve seen Rishabh Pant come in and do it as well – take the game on, but also don’t give the opposition many opportunities to get them out,” he added.
Pant has created memories in Australia that has gone down in the golden pages of Indian cricket as well as the Test history. In 12 innings, the 26-year-old has garnered 624 runs while maintaining a strike rate of 72.13.
“He’s [Pant] obviously got great memories from his last tour that he had from a batting perspective in Australia. That innings he played at the Gabba was something very special. So knowing that he’s come through his challenges in the last couple of years to be able to come back as an even better player than what he left off, I think he’s going to have a big series,” Watson noted.
After Cheteshwar Pujara, who was considered to be the backbone of India’s batting lineup was sidelined from the Test setup, Jaiswal has fared well in filling the shoes of one of the prime red-ball batters.
While Pujara racked up 792 runs after facing 2186 deliveries in 15 innings during 2018-19 and 2020-21, Jaiswal has been more attacking in his approach. In India’s recent Test series, Jaiswal scored fifties across both innings of the second Test while striking at 71.67.
“He hasn’t really given the opposition a chance to be able to get him out. I think if those types of batters come out to Australia and play aggressively – just put the bad balls away and put pressure on the Aussie bowlers – then they can still have the same effect, and they keep the game moving as well,” he remarked.
Apart from the threat that India carries with the bat, Watson is also weary of the threat Jasprit Bumrah carries with the red ball in his hand. While featuring in seven Tests in Australia, Bumrah has 32 wickets to his name at 21.25.
“Also, Bumrah is someone who in Australian conditions – well, in all conditions really – he’s so good. [With] his ability to be able to just take wickets and get batters out, he’s going to be very effective in Australia as well. So those two guys, if they have big series, they can really provide Australia with some big challenges,” he said. (ANI)
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