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What lies ahead in an unprecedented summer ofcricket

BY RITAM MITRA

syou read thispiece,we are ,veil into theT20World Cup, the mostglamorous ofinternational cricket lournan1ents, beingheld in Australia for the first time. Record crowds have been floodingthrough thegatesacrossthe country, kickingoffperhaps themost anticipated sumn,er in Australian cricket history. Foreven thougb tbeexplosive tournament seemslike itwas made forprin1etit11e television, it is merely a curtainraiser.Ahead lies Afghanistan's firstTestagainstAustralia in Perth in late ovember, followed bythe BorderGavaskarTrophy, which ,viU pit Kohli's lndia against aresurgentAustralian side enjoyingthe returnofDavid Warner and Steve Smith, the duowho missed the previousedition during their balltan1peringsuspensions.

Ofcourse, that is the paragraph with ,vhich thispiece,vouldhave begunhad 2020unfolded as expected. As itstands though, COVlD-19 has,vreaked havoc on the Australian summerofcricket, theimmediateconsequences beingthat Australiawi_ll nothosttheT20World Cup until 2022 andAfghanistan will nolongerbe touringAustralia. All thatremainsisthejewel in thecrown ofCricket Australia'ssummer,byno coincidence the mostvaluable commodity in thegame, a touring Indian team.

After several monthsofdeliberation, navigatingno shortageoflogistical challenges, CricketAustralia recently announced that Indiawouldplaythree ODls, threeT20lsand the four-Test BorderGavaskarTropby, ina tour reportedlyworth son,e $300 million to Cricket Australia. Sydneywill benefit mostfro1n the heavilyre-jiggedtour, with the ground staled lo host l\vo ODls and lwoT20s aswelJ as the traditional ew Year'sTest match,which foronce, is guaranteed tobea live rubber.

Formanyreasons, this,viii be atour like noother. Therewill be none ofthe usualfanfare thattypicallyaccon1panies i.nternational cricketers. On match days, it's unlikelythatstadiumswill operateatgreater than 50% capacity, a strangescenarioforathletesused to limitless adulation.The Indian playersin particular, longaccustomed to the hordes ofsupporterswhowaitoutside the team hotel, a veritablearmyoffansstanding patientlybythe trainingnets, and the throngs ofsupportersclan,ouringby the team bus, will be forced tofind comfort in a silence that could be both ,velcome and unsettling. Noselfies, noautographs, just cricket.

The criticalquestion is\Vhatimpact theseseismicenvironmental shiftswill haveon the players and thequalityof thecricket theyareable toproduce. ln some ways, the COVID-19 restrictions are a blessingforthe Indian team;while thelimited fan interaction may reduce thepressure that no doubt seeps in fro1n beingconstantly reveredas pseudoreligiousidols, half-capacitycrowdsand dholisat stadiumswill still be around toget theiradrenalinegoing,vhenitis needed 1nost.

Evenbeyond the newCOVID-safe playingconditions, newexperiences await the Indian contingent compared to its 2018/19 tour.The firstTest, inAdelaide,willbea Day/Night Test - India'sfirst inAustralia, and onlyitssecond overall (bycontrast, Australia has playedsevenand remains undefeated in the format). Meanwhile, theGabba, traditionally the firstTest oftheAustralian summer(even though ithas beeneschewed for Indian tours inyearsgoneby),willnowplayhostto thelastTest, afterquarantine issues in Queensland forced the visitorssouthof theborder.

Then there istheweight ofheightened expectation forthevisitors. For the first timeever, Jndiawill tourAustralia absentthewoundsofdefeat, with Kohli's chargeshavingwon the 2018-19edition 2-1, a scoreline that flattered the home side and handed Indiaits firsteverTest serieswin on Australian soil. In fact,

Indiahavewon three oftheirprevious fourTestseries againstAustralia,a staggeringrecord. But ifthere isanything moredangerous than an Australian team at home, it isan Australian sidethat is notonlyatop the ICCTest rankings, but hell-benton revenge (though the players refuse to use the word).

And lastly, perhaps thegreatest challengeofall. Bythe tin1e the first ball isbowled in Adelaideon 17 Deceinber, neither rndia norAustraliawillhave played aTest match in thepreceding 10 months. Many playerswillhaveplayed onlyT20 cricket in that time, though theAustraliansenjoy theadvantage here,with the Sheffield Shield first-class competition currentlyproceedingin full swing.

Kohliand CowillarriveonAustralian soilarmedwith a blueprint forsuccess; but if2020has provedanything,it isthat eventhe bestlaid plansoftengoawry.

The battles within

headofIndia's history-making tourofAustralia t,voyears ago,expectations,vere high. While Indiawasatthe time in the ascendancy, sittingatop the ICCTest rankings, thehome teamwere nothing shortofa shan,bles, ,vith theirtwo best batsmen ,nissingthrough ball-tampering suspensionsand the sidecon,ingoff consecutive andconvincingserieslosses to Pakistanand South Africa.

Asthisyear's series loomscloser however, it istheAustralian team that is at the topofthe rankings, boosted not only bythe return ofMessrs Sn,ith and Warner, but the rapid emergence ofMarnus Labuschagne.Against the backdropofa global pandemic,a vastlydifferent series a\vaits, and the various battleswithin the ,varpromiseto form fascinatingsubplots.

The GOAT debate

Thisyear's Border-GavaskarTrophywas supposed to pit Virat Kohli and Steve Sn,ith against eachotherat the height oftheirpowers; KohIi,viii be 36in four years' timeand S1nith 35, bywhich ti,ne theirtalentsmaybewaning. Though a cricket match is played between 22 players, there isnounderstatingthe talismanicrole that Kohliand Smith each