Shane Warne, former Australian legendary spinner believes Australia will “blow away” India in the Boxing Day Test as the visitors are still a “bit shocked” by the Adelaide humiliation.
Australia had bundled out India for their lowest-ever Test score of 36 in the opening Test and won by eight wickets.
Shane Warne: Ajinkya Rahane is a class act
The next Test is due to start on Saturday 26th December and India will be without talismanic skipper Virat Kohli, who has gone on paternity leave. India are expected to bring in 5 changes acquiring the services of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and Rishabh Pant.
“I think Australia is probably going to blow them away,” Shane Warne, who claimed a record 708 Test wickets for Australia, told ‘Fox Cricket’.
“Having said that, they have some class players to come in like KL Rahul. Young Gill will come in. (Ajinkya) Rahane is a class act. We know what (Cheteshwar) Pujara can do,” he said.
“(Mohammed) Shami is a huge loss as well. He’s such a quality bowler. And if you look at bowlers for the Melbourne conditions … drop in pitches … Shami hits the seam and stands it up and bowls a good length and straight.”
Indian batsmen were heavily criticized after the Australian bowling unit led by Pat Cummins (4-21) and Josh Hazlewood (5-8) bamboozled the visitors in the 3rd day of the opening Test at Adelaide.
Shane Warne: One Would Rather Credit Australian Pace Bowling Attack Which Was Outstanding
However, Shane Warne believes the Australian pace bowling trio deserves more credit for the win in the series-opener than the criticism faced by the Indian batsmen. The pacers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood coupled with debutant Cameron Green can forge themselves to be a potent pace attack in forthcoming years.
“Yeah, you can have a go at the Indians but I think you would rather give credit to the Australians and how well they bowled,” the 51-year-old former leg-spinner said.
“They were outstanding, that bowling attack. The four bowlers plus Green, they have been good bowlers for a long time. They are turning themselves into great bowlers now. To watch them go to work in Adelaide was fantastic.”
Shane Warne believes the current quartet of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon is already in process to become Australia’s greatest bowling unit and can be compared to Shane Warne’s era where likes of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie apart from Shane Warne himself bowled in tandem.
“They are definitely in the conversation (to compare them to my era). They are outstanding those four bowlers and they have been for a while,” Shane Warne stated
“If they continue on this form for the next four or five years going like this, then they will be in the conversation as the best bowling attack Australia maybe has ever had.”
Australia has produced some of the world’s greatest pace and spin bowlers such as Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, apart from a legendary spin wizard-like Shane Warne.
“You think of Lillee, Thommo, Lee, Gillespie and those guys…But as a four any one time, these guys are in the conversation as some of the best Australia has ever had,” he said.
Shane Warne is Australia’s leading wicket-taker in Tests with 708 wickets as Glenn McGrath trails him with 563 wickets while Nathan Lyon has 391 wickets. Likes of Denis Lillie, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Mitchell Starc trails the trio.