Will Australia Benefit from Kohli’s Absence?
India will play four Tests on their tour of Australia, with the first Test scheduled to be played in Adelaide on December 17. The India team will be without their skipper Virat Kohli in the last three Tests in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Kohli has been granted paternity leave by the BCCI so that he can be with his wife at the time of the birth of their first child.
The prospect of Kohli’s absence from the India squad for the bulk of the series has led observers to believe that Australia have become favourites to win the Test series. Kohli is arguably the world’s best batsman across formats. But how useful is Kohli the batsman to the Indian team? Kohli led India to their first-ever series win on Australian soil when India toured Australia in 2018-19. After winning the first match in Adelaide, India lost the second one in Perth before winning the third Test in Sydney and sealing the series win with a draw in Melbourne in the fourth encounter. However, that series win was built largely on the batting of Cheteshwar Pujara. Kohli himself had a mediocre series by his lofty standards.