Australia will be up against India in the second test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy at Delhi on Friday ( 17th February). The visitors are trailing in the four-match test series by 0-1 against the home side. India’s former cricketer Aakash Chopra said that David Warner struggles against Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Chopra is of the view that Warner has to score runs to secure his place in the squad. Australia’s star opener Warner managed to score 11 runs in two innings of the Nagpur game.
Chopra expressed his view on Waner’s struggles in scoring in Indian conditions-
“In batting, there will be pressure on David Warner to score runs as murmurs have started in the Australian media about whether he should be dropped. He has not scored runs in India. Ashwin has his number. So it is an extremely crucial game for him,” said former cricketer cum analyst Chopra.
The left-hand batter Warner averages 22.16 in India after 18 innings. While in Sri Lanka, he only averages 25.22 after 10 Test innings while he has little better records in Pakistan with an average of 33.80 in five innings for Australia.
Ashwin's stunning spell in the second innings against Australia also contained the wicket of David Warner – picking him up for the 11th time in Tests. #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/3ViaObIyII
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) February 11, 2023
Former Indian opener Chopra stated that Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are key players for Australia-
“Usman Khawaja came after scoring plenty of runs in Pakistan. He has set the stage on fire in the last 12 months, but he has been cold here. There will be a focus on him once again. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are the two important pillars of their batting,” he further added.
“There will be changes in this team. You might see Travis Head in place of either Matt Renshaw or Peter Handscomb. Cameron Green can probably play in place of Scott Boland, that they can bowl a fast bowler from just one end, although Boland bowled better than Pat Cummins, but Cummins is the captain, so he will play,” concluded Chopra.
Asian giants have successfully retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy from the last three editions in which two came down under. Australia last won the test series in India in the 2004-05 series under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy tenure. While the Men in Blue have not lost a test match at Delhi since 1987.