Currently occupying No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings for teams, Australia are all set to tour India for a four-match Test series, starting next month.
Ahead of the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has acknowledged that beating the Indian team on their home soil is a tough task. However, he believes the visitors have picked a ‘great’ squad to script history this time around.
"We know beating India on their home soil is very tough. They are a very strong side and especially in India, they became more dangerous, also we know that the host have a very deep batting lineup and at the same time they have a specialist bowler who can take wickets easily and put pressure on us but we are also ready and we are also coming with a great squad which have specialist spinners this time," Stoinis told ANI.
Notably, Australia have not won a Test series in India since 2004. Prior to that, they won a Test series on Indian soil way back in 1969.
"Yes but this time we don't want to lose the trophy even though our team never wants to lose it as it could be the third time but we don't want to give up this year. Our squad is too strong and facing India on thier soil is a bit difficult as we have to face spin tracks over there. India have some specialist bowlers like Ashwin and Jadeja those can ball really well but we are also coming with some specialist spinners so you can expect a good competition this time," he added.
Having regained his form, Virat Kohli has started dominating bowling attacks once again and Stoinis expects the former India skipper to make a mark in the four-match Test series.
"Yes he is world class batsman who has returned in form and he is the best test batter around the world this time so he could be the biggest fear once again for us. But yes one player definitely missed this season badly and it is Rishabh Pant he is unfortunately not with the team. I wish he will recover soon and come back to the field," Stoinis remarked.
The highly-anticipated Test series between India and Australia is slated to get underway on February 9 in Nagpur. Delhi will host the second Test from February 17 while Dharamshala and Ahmedabad will stage the third and fourth Tests from March 1 and March 9, respectively.
