SYDNEY (Australia): Australia batsman Usman Khawaja said playing against India behind closed doors in the much-anticipated Test series at the end of the year might help the home side.
“It’s definitely an advantage” he told Fox Sports News. “I remember the last time they came over for a one-day series, the roar for India was much bigger.”
Cricket Australia is staring at a staggering loss of 300 million Australian dollars if the ICC T20 World Cup is not held on time due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Travel restrictions and question marks over how long it would take to contain the pandemic has put the future of T20 World Cup and India’s tour of Australia in doubt.
The T20 World Cup is scheduled for October 18 start while India’s tour of Australia will begin with a T20 tri-series in October and end with a four-match Test series in December.
“Especially in Melbourne, the amount of expats they have over there, they flock in. And when India’s on top they really let you know it. It’s a really weird feeling. When you’re in India, you expect to be outnumbered massively but you can be outnumbered in Melbourne, as well as Sydney to some extent also,” said Khawaja.
CA wants this tour, scheduled for December and January, to happen as the lucrative Indian TV rights for the series would go a long way to help CA avert a financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
India secured their first ever Test series triumph on Australian soil the last time they toured in the 2018-19 season.
Khawaja said Australia was hit hard due to the absence of their top two batsmen last time.
“They were clearly the better team last time, we hung in there but (Cheteshwar) Pujara was outstanding and Kohli led from the front as a captain,” he added.
