Australia's India Summit Beckons

Virat kohli has not only taken on the charge but also, the challenge of pushing the limits on this rather than young Indian team...

- Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

Optimism is running high in the country ahead of Australia’s Test tour of India. With India on a roll in home conditions and their skipper showing off a rich vein of form that threatens to break more records, it is not surprising that Australia enter the arena as the underdogs. That said, this promises to be a riveting contest between two giant, cricket proud nations and one can expect tensions as well as expectations, not to mention excitement, to overlap each other over the length and course of the four Test tour.

India had the one slightly less high profile but intense one off Test against Bangladesh to intercept the time between relishing their Test series victory against England over Christmas last year and facing up to the challenge of playing hosts to the ICC second ranked Test team, Australia, in late February. Given the rich history of rivalry between the two nations on the cricket field, particularly over the last three decades, one can expect a few fireworks as Virat Kohli, India’s captain for all formats now, will extol his team the value of extending India’s glorious streak of Test wins and the need to keep India’s recent home record against Australia intact.

While Australia come to India as feted competitors and historic figures, their record in India has not been particularly inspiring. The last time Australia won a Test on Indian soil was during the 2004 series when Adam Gilchrist led the Australian team to a 2-1 series victory. Furthermore not only have they lost their last nine Tests in Asia, but also, they suffered an ignominious 4-0 whitewash in 2013. Their recent record has been a case of swinging from the highs to the lows and vice versa after having lost their home series against South Africa only to sweep aside Pakistan.