How Australia play Ashwin and Kuldeep is going to decide fate of Test series, feels Jones.
Dean Jones believes that India led by Virat Kohli has “a good chance” to win their maiden Test series in Australia when they will face the hosts in the four-match series starting from December 6 at Adelaide.
He further went on to make a bold statement that if Indian Cricket Team fails to clinch their first-ever Test series in Australia, who are all set to face No.1 Test side without their batting powerhouses –Steve Smith and David Warner, he would be only surprised with Kohli and his brigade this time.
Jones also backed experienced spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who is leading the spin department in Tests for a long time now, to have a ripper of a series in Australia, saying he could be extremely handy for Captain Kohli in the much-anticipated Test series against the Kangaroos.
Jones told CricketCountry on Friday (November 16), “I’m expecting Ashwin to have a ripper of a series. He had a good series last time India were here and had he played in that first Test in Adelaide, India might have won the series. India has a good chance, they’ve never won a Test series over here, and if they don’t I would be surprised.
Meanwhile, the 57-year-old further went on to claim that how Australia manage the spin duo of Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav will decide the fate of the upcoming Test series.
The commentator also feels that Peter Handscomb and Aaron Finch are two in the Aussie line-up who has the potential to counter the spin attack by India at home.
Jones signed off by saying, “How Australia play Ashwin and Kuldeep is going to decisive, and that’s why I think we have to have Handscomb and Finch, who are our best players of spin, available so they can counter them. Finch opened the innings, but he will bat at No 5 at home when India come over. We’ll should have Marcus Harris into the side by then, he’s scored the most runs in the last three Sheffield Shield seasons, which is phenomenal. Matt Renshaw will play and I think Usman [Khawaja] will bat at 3.”
(With CricketCountry Inputs)