The Indians are coming, the Indians are here
By Kersi Meher-Homji
It seems as if Australia is the second home for Indian cricketers these days. From December 2014 to January 2015 they played four Tests in Australia followed by an ODI (One Day International) Tri series against Australia and England and then the World Cup in February-March 2015.
Only 10 months later they are back in Australia to play two practice matches, then five ODIs and three Twenty20 matches against Australia. Below is their tour itinerary:
January 8: v. Western Australia XI, Perth
January 9: v. Western Australia XI, Perth
January 12: v. Australia, Perth
January 15: v. Australia, Brisbane
January 17: v. Australia, Melbourne
January 20: v. Australia, Canberra
January 23: v. Australia, Sydney.
Then India will play three Twenty20 matches against Australia in January; at Adelaide on 26th (the India Republic Day and Australia Day), in Melbourne on 29th and in Sydney on 31st.
The Indian squad: MS Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper), Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Manish Pandey, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan and Barinder Sran.
It is a well balanced team with a mixture of youth and experience. Three of them have not played an international match. They are Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh and Barinder Sran.
To me, the omission of Suresh Raina has come as a surprise as he can bat aggressively and field like an acrobat.
India and Australia have played 118 ODIs, India winning 40 and losing 68 with 10 left undecided.
In Australia, the home team has won 31 and lost 10.
So India will have to do a lot better down under than they have done in the past. Hope the weather is better than now as Dhoni’s men will bring Indian summer.
See you at the grounds, dressed in Indian tricolours!
Short URL: https://indiandownunder.com.au/?p=6051