Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli and Australia’s Steve Smith would be more than keen to stamp their authority in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series in which runs would be “at a premium”, feels Australian great Matthew Hayden.
Hayden, considered one of the best openers of his era, opined that both Kohli and Smith like to dominate in their own ways and will hold the key to how the series pans out Down Under.
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“Cricket is a game of momentum and I’m sure those two players, coming now to the later pages of their cricketing careers, will be very keen to dominate the landscape through the summer,” Hayden said on the sidelines of the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards on Wednesday.
“That’s their nature. They do it in very different ways, very different styles, but certainly they really are the key to the Australian summer,” he said.
“I sense that it’s going to be runs that are going to be the point of difference” – Matthew Hayden
India and Australia will play a five-Test series for the first time since 1991-92 starting November 22 at Perth, and Hayden said it will be hard to pick which team has the edge.
“You look at the lineups, and it’s hard to really tell who has the edge. I sense that it’s going to be runs that are going to be the point of difference. Guys that are sure bets have retired, like (Cheteshwar) Pujara was a sure bet in Australian conditions,” he said.
“Was he exciting? No. Was he effective? Heck, yes. When you look back over the years, guys like Raul Dravid, VVS Laxman… they were really sure bets in our market. The best need to stand up in this series, runs are going to be at a premium,” he said.
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Hayden said Australian players will be eager to end their barren run against India, having last won a bilateral series in 2014-15.
“We haven’t had it (the trophy) in our hands for two series in Australia, which is kind of the coveted grounds. Not that’s similar to the Steve Waugh era here in 2001, where this was the hallowed turf, this was a place where Australia really wanted to come and win,” he said.
“And his great era didn’t do it. There’s always this fantastic opportunity for the No. 1 (and) No. 2 sides on the World Test Championship to go head to head, especially abroad in each other’s camps and see who really has those kinds of final rights to claim not only the possibility of playing the (World) Test Championship (final) but also who’s the very best of the best, which you judge on how you tour, not so much how you play at home,” he said.
