Australia vs India 2018: Virat Kohli expects India’s lower order in Tests to learn from England

He is the captain of the world’s No.1 Test side but had to face defeats in two big overseas series this year, in South Africa and England. Virat Kohli is now set to lead India in another big overseas tour – Down Under – and he wants his side to bring a positive outcome this time. India haven’t won a Test series on Australian soil ever and the last time they returned undefeated from there was in 2003-04 when Sourav Ganguly’s men drew the Kangaroos 1-1 in a four-game series after taking a lead.

Kohli has specifically advised India’s lower order batting to take a cue from England in a bid to turn their overseas luck around in Australia. Experts are viewing the upcoming four-Test series starting December 6 as India’s best chance to win it there since the hosts are going through one of their leanest phases and are without the services of two of their top batsmen – Steve Smith and David Warner – as they are serving a year-long ban.

India need a Sam Curran down their order

During India’s last overseas Test series in England, the hosts escaped a couple of times because their tail wagged vigorously, loosening the visitors’ grip on the game, and eventually won the matches. A special mention of Sam Curran, England’s young bowling all-rounder is a must here since he appeared as his team’s saviour a number of times and ended up bagging the man of the series award jointly with Kohli who hit a phenomenal form in the series that England won 4-1. Even India’s head coach Ravi Shastri mentioned the difference that 20-year-old Curran was making to the series.

India, on the other hand, saw their batsmen struggling in the conditions with none showing the consistency that Kohli had in the series.

“Yes, especially the lower order I would say. Because we still understand that at the top it can get difficult where guys are bowling a good spell and so it is really tough. It is relatively easier for the middle order, but again the lower-order contribution will be crucial as we saw in England. Their lower order contribution was much better than ours and that made the difference in the series. That is where we want the guys to be fearless,” Kohli said a press conference before leaving for Australia.

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