Unlike some of our ex-Indian greats, who prefer to remain silent in spite of the obvious wrongdoings in Indian cricket, Ian Chappell is one Aussie legend who doesn’t mince any words when it comes to giving his views on Australian cricket. Chappell has stated in no uncertain terms that the India-Australia series, which will feature one T20 and seven ODIs is being played just for the sake of money, and that’s the only reason Cricket Australia (CA) agreed to be part of the ‘meaningless’ series so close to the Ashes.
Logically, it would be near impossible to argue with Chappell on the matter. Having been thrashed 3-0 in the Ashes, Australia should ideally have been looking to rebuild their team for the upcoming Ashes in Australia, by getting the players to feature in as many domestic games as possible. It would have given the selectors a good opportunity to look at the form of the players and also identity certain spots in the team which they feel need to be strengthened. Now that the Aussie are in India, it will be extremely difficult for the men in charge of choosing the side to come up with the best squad.
As Chappell rightly pointed out, the series is senseless and, more importantly, ill- timed as far as Australia are concerned. Without doubt, India would be preparing some turning tracks for the Aussies knowing very well that the visitors are poor players of spin. If India’s spinners do manage to get under the skin of the Aussie batsmen, they could be in for a real torrid time. What a poor performance in India could do is bring down the anyways sagging morale of the Aussie team even further, and the significant part is that this could have been avoided.
Spin wouldn’t play a major part in Australia as, everyone is aware of the nature of the pitches here. Hence, how Australia perform in India before heading to the Ashes should be very much redundant. But, would that actually be the case? A defeat, be in it any format and against any opponent, does impact the psyche of the team. Thus, if India indeed thrash the Aussies in the limited overs series, the Australians would head into the Ashes low on confidence even if they are aware at the back of their minds that the conditions would be different at home when they take on England.
The fact that Michael Clarke would be missing from the India series due to injury could further add to Australia’s woes, as noted by Chappell. Here again, he has a fair point. The Aussie skipper is the best player of spin in the team by yards. In his absence, the team is expected to struggle against the turning ball. Also, even if some of them do succeed in India, it could be like a double-edged sword, again correctly observed by the Australian legend. The selectors might be compelled to pick some good performers from the India series, but Tests are a different proposition, and risking such players might prove to be calamitous to the cause of Australian cricket.
--By A Cricket Analyst
