Ponting reckons Kohli's absence will put Men in Blue 'under pressure' against Australia

As India set their eyes on retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that the Men in Blue have more questions to answer as they face a much-stronger side under Tim Paine, as compared to the last time in 2019. The World Cup-winning skipper believes that Virat Kohli's absence in the last three Tests will certainly hurt India's chances of winning the series as the Men in Blue will be under pressure. Captain Kohli is set to return back home after the first Test in Adelaide due to the birth of his first child. 

"India will feel that without Kohli there (for three Tests), for his batting and leadership, that'll put all sorts of pressure on different players. You'd think (Ajinkya) Rahane will take over the captaincy, which will put extra pressure on him, and they've got to find someone to bat at that really important No.4 spot," Cricket Australia quoted Ricky Ponting. 

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Furthermore, Ponting also shunned the questions over Australia's opening pair after Will Puckovski's national call up, casting doubts on Joe Burns spot. Rather, the former skipper feels that India would have to answer more questions regarding their batting line up.

"I don't think they'll be clear in their own mind, even now, what their batting order will look like for the first Test. Who's going to open, who'll bat at four when Kohli goes? The questions that are being asked around Australia with Pucovski and Green, I think India has got a few more questions to answer,” Ponting said. 

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Ponting also questioned India's pace battery and spin options, implying that zeroing down on the playing XI will be a tough task for the Indian team. "Shami, Jasprit Bumrah will it be Ishant (Sharma), with it be Umesh Yadav, will it be a young guy like (Navdeep) Saini or (Mohammad) Siraj? They've got a lot of questions to ask as well. And which spinner? They've got a few spinners in their squad and they've got to figure out which one to pick for the pink-ball game in Adelaide," he said. 

India tour of Australia 

India will kick off their tour to Australia with a three-match ODI series starting on Friday, 27 November, followed by as many T20Is and four Tests. The T20Is will be played in Canberra (4 December) and Sydney (6, 8 December). 

The first Test will be a day/night affair, from 17-21 December at the Adelaide Oval. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (26-30 December) will host the Boxing Day Test, before the action moves to the Sydney Cricket Ground (7-11 January) and the Gabba (15-19 January). With India currently on top of the World Test Championship table and Australia in second, the series is expected to be a thriller, as it will also be a part of the ICC World Test Championship.

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