Encouraged by Pakistan's thumping win over Australia, former opener Mohsin Khan believes Virat Kohli's team will have an edge over Tim Paine's men in the four-Test series Down Under
India captain Virat Kohli (c) and his teammates celebrate England skipper Joe Root's wicket on Day Two of the this Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on August 19. Pic/Getty Images
Mohsin Khan, the former Pakistan opening batsman and coach, has said that Australia, who were beaten by Sarfraz Ahmed's team by a massive margin of 373 runs in Abu Dhabi yesterday, have every chance of losing their firm grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy when it comes to the series played Down Under.
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Pakistan won the two-Test series 1-0 as Australia, chasing a near-impossible target of 538 runs, were bowled out for 164. Pacer Mohammad Abbas claimed five for 62 and ended the match with 10 wickets. He was adjudged man of the match as well as player of the series. "India in Australia is going to be a great series. The Australians are not a strong side as they were, but in their conditions, the pace bowlers will be a threat.
Mohsin Khan
Super pacers
"However, India are a much-improved side. What is most impressive about India is that they have some good fast bowlers and that will come in handy on the Australian tour. They have troubled sides recently and I am confident of the pacemen doing well again," Mohsin, 63, told mid-day from Karachi yesterday.
Mohsin was Pakistan's coach in 2012, the year they beat England 3-0 in Dubai. But it was for his classy batting that he is most famous for. He carved an epic 200 against England at Lord's in 1982 when Pakistan, under the captaincy of Imran Khan, ended up with a 10-wicket victory. In the Australian summer of 1983-84, he slammed hundreds in consecutive Tests (Adelaide and Melbourne) against a top-draw Australian team just before the retirements of Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh.
"India play well as a team and that is so important especially on a tour of Australia. They are well led by Virat Kohli too and the batting doesn't really depend too much on Kohli. There are other quality players in the batting order and all this contributes to me being optimistic about India's success in Australia.
Advantage India
"Let's put it this way... India will have to play very poorly to lose in Australia. They certainly have the edge over Australia," said Mohsin. Mohsin was delighted with Pakistan's show in Abu Dhabi and felt that the planning seemed to be spot-on. "They were brilliant. However, we should have won the first Test in Dubai. "It appeared that the planning was poor on all counts for that Test. Yes, Pakistan won the series 1-0, but it could well have been 2-0," remarked Mohsin.
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