Australia vs India: Five talking points including Kohli, Smith, Bumrah, Lyon and World Test Championship scenarios
It may sound obvious when we say that India have scored more runs than Australia in the last two series, but it is indeed one of the key differences.
In the 2018-19 series, India’s average first-innings score of 327 dwarfed Australia’s 253 runs. That gap narrowed to 15 points in 2020-21 (288 to 273).
India’s top six averaged 37.5 in 2018-19, while Australia’s average was 27, but the hosts squeezed out that number last time out.
India’s middle order (5-8) has comfortably outscored Australia in both series (34-24.9 in 2018-19 and 33.4-26 two years later).
However, there are concerns over India’s batting performance after the series against New Zealand.
In that series, they scored 250 or more runs only twice and were eliminated by 46, 156 and 121 runs in three games.
Rishabh Pant, who played a key role in the previous win over Australia, is in good form and is averaging 43.50 in the series, but captain Rohit Sharma ‘s average is only 15.16, Virat Kohli’s 15.5.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (31.66), Shubman Gill (36) and Sarfaraz Khan (28.5) also struggled as only Pant was available More than half a century has been represented in the series.
Kohli and Rohit are averaging just 22.72 and 29.4 in Tests in 2024 and if these numbers don’t rise, it will be difficult for India to win.
Rohit will miss the first Test with the birth of his second child, so India will have to find a new partner for Jaiswal. Bowler Jasprit Bumrah will lead the Indian team in Rohit’s absence.
