Ganguly not sure how good the present Australian side is

Tags: Australia tour of India,2017, Australia, India, India Vs Australia 1st Test at Pune, Feb 23-27, 2017

Published on: Feb 23, 2017

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The Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts with the first Test in Pune on Thursday. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts with the first Test in Pune on Thursday. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels the current Australian side doesn't have much of a chance against Virat Kohli's team and that the Indians should be able to complete a whitewash.

Speaking to India Today in an exclusive chat, Ganguly said, "The challenge for Australia will not be to survive in this Test match because we are absolutely sure that the pitch is going to turn big as the match progresses. For them the challenge will be how to control that slide after they lose that first Test match. You saw against England, they played well in the first match lost the second and since then it was a one-way traffic. They got big runs on the board because there were good pitches but Day 4-5 they didn't know how to resist.”
Praising Australia, he said, "We respect Australia, we respect the way they have played cricket over the years. They've had some champion teams like the ones we played against during our era, probably was the best team I've seen in the last 30-40 years.” On the current side though the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President added, “But how does this Australian team beat India or compete against India on these turning pitches, I'm not sure."
Ganguly also said that he was not sure about David Warner’s pedigree in Indian conditions, "Steven Smith very very good when the ball turns, he's probably Australia's best batsman. Warner I'm still not sure whether he can still survive playing that much positively on pitches which turn square. It requires a lot more than just hitting the ball and that's Warner's way of playing Test match cricket,” he stated.
"It's different from IPL to be honest. Flat pitches in IPL, small grounds and the white ball you can just whack it. But when it spins across the bat with Ashwin turning square bringing the ball back into the left-hander it's a different kettle of fish. As I said, it's not a secret anymore that it's going to turn from Day 2 of this Test match and good luck to Australia," Ganguly added,
--By A Cricket Correspondent

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