Ajinkya Rahane reveals why the 2020 Test series against Australia will be challenging

Ajinkya Rahane has revealed that it will be a huge challenge for India to beat Australia in their own backyard when the two teams lock horns in a four-match Test series later this year. India had beaten the Aussies 2-1 in the 2018/19 season to register their first-ever Test series win Down Under. The current top-ranked Test side were without the services of their star players David Warner and Steve Smith who were handed a one-year ban due to their involvement in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier that year as a result of which the duo was also stripped of their captaincy as well as vice-captaincy respectively.

'Will be a challenge': Ajinkya Rahane

“Very important series in Australia, especially with (Steve) Smith and (David) Warner back in their set up and (Marnus) Labuschagne, is doing really well. We won the series last time and it was the proudest moment in our lives. Winning again in Australia will be a challenge they will be preparing much better for us now,” said Rahane while interacting on the latest episode of ‘India Today Inspiration’.

“It’s important we play as a team and take one game at a time. We should forget what happened in 2018 and take positives from that series but this is the Test Championship where every match and innings counts. We have to give our best in each and every Test, especially the first game is really important for the momentum. We do have a very good bowling attack. The Australian attack is good in their own conditions but I think we have a really good fast bowling attack and even the backups are very good. Even on the England and South Africa tours, they did really well. We got 60 wickets in the 3 Tests in South Africa. I’m sure are equally ready to do well in Australia this time and I’m confident about them", the Indian Test vice-captain added.

 

India Tour of Australia 2020

India will be touring Australia for a four-match Test series that gets underway on December 3. The first Test will be played at the Gabba in Brisbane.  The second Test match at the Adelaide Oval will be a Day-Night affair while the last two matches will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney Cricket Ground respectively.

The  Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had confirmed earlier this month that the bilateral series between these two sides will go on as planned as per the originally scheduled Future Tour Programmes (FTP).

Can India create history once again?

India had beaten Australia when they had toured Australia in the 2018-19 season 2-1 in the four-match series to win their maiden Test series on Australian soil.  It remains to be seen whether the Virat Kohli-led side will succeed in retaining the iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy by getting the better of a full-strength Australian side that features the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, etc. 

READ: Rohit Sharma Reveals His First Salary From Cricket, Says 'spent Eating Roadside'