David Warner and Steve Smith’s performances will decide the fate of the India-Australia series: Ian Chappell

Ian Chappell, the former Australian cricketer, said that Steve Smith and David Warner would be playing a massive role in India’s tour of Down Under later this year. Back in 2018-19, Virat Kohli became the first Indian captain to register a Test series victory on Australian soil. The visitors lost the Perth Test, but won in Adelaide and Melbourne to script history by 2-1.

Kohli’s men would be looking to replicate the same, but the task may not be easy. Last time around Warner and Smith weren’t present in the Aussie lineup, which was weakened to some extent. The duo was serving a one-year ban after the ball-tampering scandal at the Newlands in South Africa.

Australia’s batting last time wasn’t so good: Ian Chappell

Without the stalwarts in their lineup, the loopholes in Australia’s batting were exposed to a large extent. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami made inroads frequently. Chappell understands the vitality of the series and reckons that India would come out firing on all cylinders.

“I am certainly looking forward to it (the Australia-India series). It will be a very interesting one. India will come with the confidence of having won last time they toured Australia,”  Chappell was quoted as saying on the Sony Ten Pit Stop show.

“The batting last time India were here wasn’t so good. If India can keep getting Warner and Smith out cheaply, then India could win. If they don’t get Warner and Smith cheaply, Australia will win,” the veteran added.

Smith is currently the number one ranked Test batsman. In the recent times, he along with Kohli has been fighting for the top spot. When Smith was going through the suspension period, Kohli was at the helm. However, after making his comeback in the 2019 Ashes, Smith got his position back. Warner, on the other hand, didn’t have the greatest of comebacks in the Ashes.

But he managed to score at triple century against Pakistan in Adelaide to gain back form. Both batters have tasted reasonable amount of success, facing the Indian bowling attack. Steve and Warner got centuries against India in their previous series as well, though it was the ODI format.