Australian cricket legend Matthew Hayden has on Sunday (January 19) said India and Australia are titans of the Test cricket. He also believes that the two top Test-playing nations are the heavyweights of the traditional format of the game in the world.
The India cricket team is scheduled to tour Australia to play four Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches from October 2020 to January 2021 and the five-day format series has already created a buzz among the cricket fraternity.
Last year in January, Virat Koli-led Indian team made history in Australia by winning their maiden Test series Down Under against Tim Paine’s team, as it was their first series win in the last 71-years.
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Well, Indian’s that success came against Steve Smith and David Warner-less Australian team, as the two were serving ball-tampering bans, and Hayden feels things will be totally different this time when the two teams would face each other in the forthcoming Test series on Australian soil.
Hayden told PTI on the sidelines of the ODI series decider in Bengaluru on Sunday: “India and Australia, they are titans of the game. It is a shame that it is not a five-Test series; it is the absolute right number of Test matches to play. If you take this three-game ODI series, before an exciting environment is created by the fans, it is over.”
He continued, “Both sides are heavyweights of Test match cricket. It is going to be a closely fought series. Australia obviously has the conditions in their favor and world-class bowling attack and probably the best off-spinner that has ever played (Nathan Lyon)… Australia should win.”
Meanwhile, two-time World Cup winner has claimed that the forthcoming Test series would be a tough one for India while predicting that Australia will win home series later this year, saying the return of legends Smith and Warner to the side besides world-class bowling attack makes the hosts red-hot favorites against Kohli and his team.
Hayden signed off by saying, “You are talking about two incredibly fine players. Legends really now and their record at home is phenomenal, both of them. It will be a tough series for India for sure. The scoreline doesn’t matter but Australia should win it, they will be red-hot favorites.”
(With PTI Inputs)
