Waugh reveals why Australia will be the favourites when India tour Down Under for a Test series this year

Team India will travel to Australia later in the year for a four-match Test series which starts from December 2020. India created history on their last tour Down Under in 2018-19 when they won their first Test series on Australian soil. However, former captain of the Australian cricket team, Steve Waugh, believes that his team will be the favorites in the Test series this time.

When speaking to PTI, Waugh said that the return of David Warner and Steve Smith will give the team a much-needed boost. The two cricketers were banned from playing for 12 months after they were found guilty in a ball-tampering incident.

Waugh said, “Australia will be the favourite I think. We know the pitches well and the day-night Test is going to be something relatively new for India. I like the way Virat Kohli is taking that challenge. If you want be the best side in the world, you have to win away from home as much as possible,” the 54-year-old said.

He further added,

“You can’t take away from India winning last time but Australia did not have the best batsmen. Marnus Labuschagne has come out of nowhere, the bowling looks much settled now. India do not have weaknesses too, so it’s potentially to be a great series.”

Waugh also spoke about current Australian skipper Tim Paine, saying that he is doing a good job on leading the team, and there is no need to make any changes to the current captaincy.

“Why we need to change the leadership, Tim Paine is doing a great job. We need to show him more respect. He has come in at a tough time. He is a captain for the future, he is in his mid-30s but that does not mean he can’t captain for a few years. Asking this question means we are not paying respect to the current captain,” he said.

“Smith will be in running when next captaincy role comes up but there are number of factors to be considered, like how many runs he is scoring, if he wants to be captain. There will be lot of questions asked when Tim Paine moves on.”