India will take on Australia as they will look to fight for the Border -Gavaskar Trophy which consists of four Test matches. While the first test starts on 9th February in Nagpur, the visitors are already on the backfoot with major injury concerns.
Star speedsters, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are out of the first test match due to injuries whereas Cameron Green may play but he won’t be bowling as he suffered an injury recently and bowling will put extra pressure on the young allrounder. Hence Pat Cummins led Australia are firmly on the backfoot at least ahead of the first Test.
Former Indian opener and analyst Aakash Chopra analyzed the situation that the Kangaroos are going through in his YouTube video. He highlighted how the visitors are a depleted unit even before a single ball is bowled.
“Josh Hazlewood is injured, he is not available for the first match. Mitchell Starc is also injured, he will also not be available for the first match. Cameron Green will play but he cannot bowl,” Chopra pointed out.
“Even one ball has not been bowled and so many injuries have happened.”
Chopra fears that Hazlewood’s absence will be huge for Australia and he personally also rates him very highly. He also shares how his height adds a new dimension and also is someone known to pick wickets and break partnerships.
“I rate Josh Hazlewood very highly. He is an amazing bowler. He bowls from very close to the stumps, keeps the ball within the three stumps, gets a little extra bounce and knows how to pick up wickets. But he will not be available for the first match. He has an Achilles injury,” Chopra highlighted.
Hazlewood is among the best in the world as he has picked up 51 wickets in 15 Test matches against India. He also has mustered nine wickets in four Tests on Indian soil and in Starc’s absence he would have been someone sharing the burden with captain Cummins. However now the Baggy Greens will rely on the inexperience of Scott Boland and Lance Morris. While Boland has earned a lot of plaudits recently, this will be his first Test out of Australia. Similarly Morris is also someone who has worked hard on his reverse swing and has shown great improvement. So Cummins will have to spearhead this attack with the able support from Nathan Lyon as they look to challenge India in Nagpur.
