‘What gives India hope against Australia is their bowling’: Atherton lists two things that give Virat Kohli’s men a chance Down Under

It’s almost impossible to win in Australia without a good bowling attack, reckons Atherton, who is highly impressed with the depth in India’s fast bowling.

Former England batsman Michael Atherton feels India are reasonably well-placed to put up a good show in Australia later this year due to their composed top order and a strong bowling attack.

Do you think India will be able to produce a repeat of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy? (Getty Images)

India are to tour Australia later this year for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and while the return of David Warner and Steve Smith promises to make it tougher for the visiting team than it was in 2018-19, Atherton believes the balance of any top order plays a key role in doing well in Australia. With the kind of batting India have with Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma opening the innings, followed by a rock-solid Cheteshwar Pujara and then captain Virat Kohli, Atherton sees no reason why the batting cannot flourish.

“[Mayank] Agarwal... what does he average? 55 or something after a dozen Test matches? Rohit Sharma averages 46 after 30 odd Tests. Then you’ve got back-up openers like Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul. Seems to me India are quite well-placed,” Atherton said on the Sony Ten Pit Stop Show.

“Pujara is a fabulous player. India are about to go to Australia. That top of the order is so important in Australia, because if you can have a solid, successful start there, as soon as that Kookaburra ball loses its shine, you can have some lovely batting conditions there. That opening position, the No. 3 position offering a solid base is really important. I would have thought that Sharma and Agarwal would open, followed by Pujara at 3 and then Kohli and beyond and that’s the way India will go.”’

The other factor which Atherton thinks gives hope to India’s chances in Australia is their bowling attack. Plenty has been said about the resurgence of India’s fast bowling, that has really made headlines thanks to brilliant, consistent performances from Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar collectively. It’s almost impossible to win in Australia without a good bowling attack, reckons Atherton, who is highly impressed with the depth in India’s fast bowling.

“What really should give India hope is the strength of the bowling attack. It’s very difficult to win in Australia without strong seam attack,” he added. “One of the great things in the last few years about Indian cricket is seeing this sea change in terms of the quality of fast bowlers they’ve produced. When I played in India in ‘93, it was completely spin-based. They obviously had good fast bowlers back then but I don’t think it was of the same depth they have now.”