Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that Australia will “quite easily” win the upcoming four-match Test series against India in the absence of Virat Kohli from the opposite camp.
“No Virat Kohli for three Tests in Australia…The right decision going to be at the birth of his first child…but it means Australia will win the series quite easily IMO .. #JustSaying,” Vaughan said in a tweet.
The first Test at Adelaide will be India’s first day-nigt Test outside home soil. It will also be skipper Virat Kohli’s only appearance in all-whites in Australia this time as he would return to India on a paternity leave after the opener.
Kohli had already informed the BCCI about his wish to return to India to unite with his wife Anushka Sharma. They are expecting their first child in January next year.
Kohli will, however, feature in three ODIs and as many T20Is which will be played before the first Test — a pink-ball fixture — of which the Indian skipper will be a part of.
India’s tour of Australia will kick off with the ODI series from November 27. It will be followed by the three-match T20I series from December 4 before the Virat Kohli-led team begins the title defence of the Border-Gavaskar trophy with the pink-ball Test in Adelaide from December 17.
It will be followed by Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (December 26), the Sydney Cricket Ground (January 7) and the Gabba (January 15).
Meanwhile, the players of the Indian cricket team left directly from the United Arab Emirates after participating in the 13the season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) there. Team India were seen PPE kits in images shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).