An intense discussion about India’s aging cricket team has been sparked by a renowned Australian cricket coach, who has launched a critical attack. The team’s reliance on seasoned players, especially Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, has the coach worried, according to a recent interview.
In the early 2000s, John Buchanan led the backroom personnel of the virtually unbeatable Australian side. Together with Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, Buchanan turned Australia into one of the most formidable cricket sides ever, in all competitions. India was a team that consistently presented them with challenges even throughout their reign of supremacy.
Buchanan Calls India’s ‘Ageing’ Squad
According to Buchanan, there are many senior players available for both Australia and India, but this won’t stop the
teams from competing. For his point, Buchanan brought up the ages of Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma.
“I looked at the ages, and India has got some ageing players in that side; notably Rohit Sharma, who’s 37, and Virat Kohli is 35, Ravichandran Ashwin, if he tours, he’s 37, and you look at the Australian side, there’s only one or two players who are under 30.
The former Australia head coach said a lot has changed since India beat the Aussies three years ago.
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“Australia (has), since losing to India in the last series, the pace bowling attack with (off-spinner Nathan) Lyon, backed up now by Cameron Green or Mitchell Marsh, is just a really, really powerful bowling lineup,” he added.
“India’s top order, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, (Rohit) Sharma himself, (Virat) Kohli, possibly Iyer… they’ve got to bat really well to establish totals and then the likes of (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammed) Shami, (Mohammed) Siraj will come into their own,” he said.
Buchanan: India’s Previous Won’t Help
According to Buchanan, there won’t be much of a psychological effect from India’s victories in Australia on the previous two visits because two of the team’s mainstays, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, are unlikely to be included in the touring party for the next series.
“The previous series that India won — important from both, Indian perspective and an Australian perspective — a little bit of the mind games will go into the pre-series,” he said.
“But for all that, those games have passed, those players are gone and the current players we have both in the Australian side and the Indian side, they’re at a stage of their careers where they all want to perform.”
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