‘I’d be looking at someone like…’: Darren Lehmann’s advice to Australia on how to win Test series in India
Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann spoke about his country's chances in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India.
Australia will kick start its India Tour with a four-match Test series on February 3, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha. Australia last won a Test match in Indian soil in 2017, with spin being the main factor in the outcome. Left-arm spinner Stephen O'Keefe was the match winner for his side with 12 wickets in that match in Pune.
Nathan Lyon will be the leading spinner for the Aussies in India, with the second option still not yet decided and former Australia coach Darren Lehmann, under whom they last won in India, Ashton Agar could be the right option. Speaking on radio station SENQ, Lehmann asked the management to go for Agar, instead of Mitchell Swepson and uncapped Todd Murphy, for the second spinner role in India.
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"Having been there, I’m probably more inclined to play finger spinners. It just gets through the air quicker and some spin and some don’t. The leg-spinners sometimes spin it too much, if that makes sense… (for finger spinners) some skid on and you get beaten on the inside and you get an LBW", Lehmann said.
"That’s probably why they’re looking at a finger spinner. We certainly did that four years ago (2017) and Steve O’Keefe bowled India out basically on his own in one of the last Test matches to win there. That’s why I’d be looking at someone like an Agar, bat a little bit, bowl as that second spinner", he further added.
The last Border-Gavaskar Trophy which was held in Australia was won by India 2-1 in dramatic fashion, and both sides will be gunning for glory once again. The Aussies recently played a three-match Test series vs South Africa at home, which they won 2-0. Meanwhile, in their recently-concluded Test series vs Bangladesh, India ended up also winning 2-0.