Indian Vice-Captain Ajinkya Rahane Feels Australia Is Favourites In India Series

The much-anticipated Test series between Australia and India will kick off from Thursday at Adelaide Oval. The pundits have already started making their predictions of who are the favourites two days before the game.

According to them, India are going to get the upper hand in the series at Down Under this time. However, India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane believes that it is the hosts who are favourites in the four-match Test series.

Two days before the game, Rahane told the media that Tim Paine’s men can still bag the series, despite of the absence of big name players. He feels that the Aussies know the conditions well. It will not be easy for Virat Kohli and Co. to beat the Aussies.

In a press conference held in Adelaide on Tuesday, the 30-year-old middle-order batsman said:

I feel that any team that plays at home, they feel really good, and I feel that Australia are still the favourites to win the series. We are not going to take them lightly at all. Yes, they (will) miss Steve Smith and David Warner but I don’t think they are vulnerable.

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The bowling attack of Australia is really good

The experts are saying that the Indian bowling attack is the best side they have seen for ages. But Rahane believes that the Australian bowling attack shouldn’t be overlooked as well.

“You see their bowling attack, they’ve got a really good bowling attack, and I think to win test matches, you need to have a really good bowling attack. So I feel that Australia are really still the favourites,” the batsman from Mumbai said.

India had lost the last two overseas Test series against South Africa and England. The batsmen were mainly responsible for the loss. Even Rahane’s form was also a bit of a concern.

In the five-match Test series against England, Rahane scored just two fifties. He last scored a century outside Asia in July 2016.

However his average of 57 in Australia is impressive (his overall Test average is 41-plus). He has played four Tests in Down Under and has a century to his name (147 in Melbourne in December 2014).

Rahane has emphasized on the fact that the batsmen need to bat in pairs and they should build long partnerships.