India will get smoked 4-0 if Virat Kohli doesn't set the tone in opening Test: Michael Clarke

By now, it is a loud and clear fact that Indian skipper Virat Kohli would not be leading India in the last three Tests owing to family commitments. He would set his foot for India after playing the opening Test in Adelaide to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. How will team manage in his absence will be a thing to watch out for, and many experts around the world feel that India would need to pull their socks up in the skipper’s absence.

In the same light, former Australian skipper Michael Clarke is of opinion that India might be on the back foot in front of Tim Paine and company in the rest of the Tests. It would be too important for Kohli to set the tone of the Test series before he packs bag for India. Clarke opines that in any case, if Indians want to defend the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli has to play a significant role in the opening Test only.

One-dayers and these Twenty20s is where Virat Kohli can really stand up: Clarke

“These one-dayers and these Twenty20s is where Virat Kohli can really stand up and lead from the front. I think the tone he sets with this team will play a big role when he leaves, after the first Test match. If India don‘t have success in the one-dayers and the T20s, they are in deep trouble in the Test matches, and they’ll get smoked 4-0, in my opinion,” said Clarke on Sky Sports Radio on Tuesday.

Further, the former Australian is of the opinion that Jasprit Bumrah would be a vital cog from the Indian side who can cease their run flow. If India is eyeing the Test series, Bumrah will have to be at his best with bouncers to tackle Australia’s talisman Steve Smith, reckons Clarke.

“He‘s quick, he’s got a really different action, so I think he needs to set the tone and be really aggressive to the Australian batters. Even to someone like Steve Smith, he’s got to use that short ball consistently and regularly, as Jofra Archer did to Steve Smith in the Ashes,” Clarke concluded.