It was in 2015 when the last time Australia defeated India in a Test series. Since then it has been a dry run for them in, both, home and away conditions. However, this time Australia would want to take advantage of the already bruised Indian team after their 3-0 loss at the hands of New Zealand. For a visiting team, Australian conditions have always been unforgiving, thanks in major part to their pacers. Josh Hazlewood, one of Australia’s relentless pace attack, thinks that the conditions answer better to his team since they know them through and through.
“I love playing in Perth. The wicket is always a nice one to bowl pace… [it’s] bouncy and a few cracks potentially,” Hazlewood spoke to the reporters on Wednesday. “I think the conditions suit us. We’re probably more used to it with that bounce and pace.”
Hazlewood has second-highest wickets for a pacer at the Perth Stadium, second only to none other than Mitchell Starc. He was especially lethal against Pakistan when the Aussies last played a Test match in Perth. The right-armed pacer targetted the fifth stump line on the off-side to get the better of the Pakistan batters, especially in the second innings. But the tight-lipped Indian team is not letting out any news on their playing XI which could be troubling for anyone barring Hazlewood who seems ready as ever to take on the visiting batters.
“There are no real secrets behind those closed doors. We have seen a lot of them, we play with them all the time, [and] we play against them. It’s going to come down to bowling in that area, and batting with patience and trying to outlast them.” Hazlewood said.
India will be playing the opening Test without their captain Rohit Sharma, who is in India following the birth of his second child, and Shubman Gill, who fractured his thumb during one of the training sessions earlier this week. This means they will be fielding at least one newcomer. But Hazlewood is happy that none of the new players would be Cheteshwar Pujara, who loves scoring runs against the Aussies having stacked no less than 2000 runs against them in 45 innings.
“I’m pretty happy that Puj (Cheteshwar Pujara) isn’t here. He’s obviously one that bats time, [and] makes you really earn his wicket every time,” Hazlewood did not shy away from confessing.
But he did acknowledge that the team has incredible players even those warming the benches.
“[But] there’s always young, fresh guys coming into the Indian team that they’re under so much pressure to perform with so many guys nipping at their heels all the time. Whoever they pick in that XI, they’re unbelievable players. It doesn’t really matter who they pick; they’re all great players.”
Winning this series will not only break India’s dominance streak but will also ensure that the Aussies reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final without any hiccups. The fact that it has been almost a decade since Australia outclassed India in a Test series points to the brilliance of the men in blue as a team. But even against a down-in-the-dumps Indian team, victory does not come easy. Australia will have to fight for that as is believed by Hazlewood.
“There’s only a couple of us from that series when we won 2-0…. everyone’s really determined [to win this time],” he said. “It’s one that we need to tick off as a group. I think the added fact that it’s a five-Test series, it’s going to be a bit more gruelling. If you win a series against India, in any part of the world, you know you’ve earned it.”
