Australia are to play India for four-match Test series against the hosts starting February 23. Team Australia have landed in India ahead of their tour. Instead of the usual off-the-field banter, this time around Australian opener David Warner goes on to praise Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
India recently registered their sixth series win on the trot by beating Bangladesh in one-off Test at Hyderabad. Kohli’s on a roll as the Hyderabad Test was his 19th Test without a defeat. If India remains unbeaten after upcoming Test series against Australia, then Kohli will break former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s unbeaten streak of 22 Tests.
Warner told a leading news-publishing website, “We do know that India are playing very good cricket and in their own backyard, they are exceptional. They crush teams. You look at England series. England scored 4 to 500 runs. India always seem to have an answer. For us, as an Australian cricket team, we have to respond better than that. We have to have a plan in place and if they are not in place, you are crushed. We are coming here to play our best brand of cricket and to beat India.”
Warner understands that in order to win against India, Australian spinners need to be on the top of their game. Warner too had a rough series in the subcontinent while playing Sri Lanka last year. The opening batsman did not perform well through the series. He was criticised over his bad display against spin.
Though, Warner has been in great form of late. He is the key player for the Kangaroos on this tour. He knows the pitches well because of his Indian Premier League (IPL) experience. He won the IPL 2016 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kohli’s side Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
