The highly-anticipated four-match Test series between India and Australia is all set to get underway on Thursday (February 9) in Nagpur.
Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik predicted that Virat Kohli and Steve Smith will be the two key batters for their respective teams.
Taking to Instagram, Karthik uploaded a video, in which he picked his five key players for the series.
“The first two are obvious choices Virat Kohli for India and Steve Smith for Australia. Virat Kohli mainly because when he gets going he makes it big and he is always troubling the Australians,” Karthik stated.
“On the other hand, very similarly Steven Smith has got plenty of runs against India and is arguably Australia’s best batter against spin. If Australia want to create a dent in the series it has to be from Steven Smith’s plate,” he added.
In 20 Tests and 36 innings, Kohli has aggregated 1,682 against Australia at an average of 48.05, including seven hundreds and five half-centuries. On the other hand, Smith has 1742 Test runs to his name at an incredible average of 72.58, including eight centuries.
Ace off-spinners R Ashwin and Nathan Lyon are the other two important players featuring in Karthik’s list.
“For me, this series is all about spinners with two best spinners on both sides. R Ashwin for India has a massive mental edge over Australia and Nathan Lyon for Australia, if he gets going he is definitely gonna be a thorn in India’s flesh.”
Ashwin has claimed 89 wickets against Australia at an average of 31.48 from 18 Tests while Lyon has taken 94 wickets from 22 Tests at an average of 34.76.
Shreyas Iyer, who is doubtful to take part in the opening Test due to a back injury, is the last key player in Karthik’s list.
Commenting on Iyer, Karthik said: “The last for me is a very critical player. According to me I feel India will definitely play on tracks that aid spin and Shreyas Iyer is someone who plays spin beautifully. If he gets going, especially against spin, he can hit a ball a long way and cause a lot of trouble.”
“So for India to do well in the series, two key batters for me are gonna be Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer” he concluded.
