The Indian side under captain Virat Kohli has a great chance of scripting history by winning their first series in Australia, according to former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar.
Gavaskar has pinned his hopes on the bowlers and said that India have a great bowling attack and this is where the biggest chance lies for the team. He has also asked the batsmen to step up and put a score on the board for the bowlers to attack.
"India have a tremendous bowling attack and that gives us our greatest hope of beating Australia this time - England and South Africa, they took plenty of wickets. Our bowlers are going to be the ones who are going to win us the matches...350 runs is what I would want the Indian batsmen to do - that gives our bowlers the chance to wrap up things for us," Gavaskar told India Today.
'Will go in with six batsmen'
The legendary batsman also picked Murali Vijay ahead of KL Rahul to partner young Prithvi Shaw as the opener. He advised the Indian management to play six specialist batsmen in the first test match.
"I want India to go in with six batsmen. For the first couple of matches, India's batting always needs some back-up. Whether it is Murali Vijay or KL Rahul, that is going to be a tricky thing. I will pick Vijay because of his greater experience and the way he played in Australia in 2014...he got a hundred at the Gabba - he may get in just ahead of KL Rahul," he added.
While the Australian conditions might not favour spinners, Gavaskar said he would play both R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav in Adelaide. As far as the fast-bowling contingent is concerned, Gavaskar picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah.
"I will go in with both spinners - Kuldeep and Ashwin...Pant at six. Ashwin at 7. Clearly Pant is in form - six batsmen.. Ashwin with his batting capabilities, Bhuvneshwar at 8. Kuldeep, Shami, Bumrah," he said.
Also, according to Gavaskar, the presence of Rohit Sharma in the squad gives the selectors a great headache as he provides a good solution at the number three solution.
