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After an unexpected series loss to New Zealand at home, Marnus Labuschagne said that India is lacking confidence, but he advised against underestimating the visitors before the highly awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Although Labuschagne played down the significance of India's unexpected defeat in an October–November home Test series, he acknowledged that Australia would benefit from an underconfident Indian squad.
After being soundly defeated 0–3 at home, the first time in their cricketing history, India's aspirations of winning a Test series in Australia for the third time in a row were severely damaged.
India's problems were made worse by captain Rohit Sharma's absence from the series opener in Perth. Now even Shubman Gill, who fractured his thumb during training, has also been ruled out of the first Test.
Labuschagne on India
"It's really hard to judge; they played on completely different conditions, spinning conditions. But, I mean, having India come here on the back of a loss at home, that's something that has never happened before. So, I think that's a good thing because they are probably a little bit lower on confidence, not coming off a Test victory, losing to New Zealand 0-3. That's going to do a little bit of damage to their confidence," Labuschagne said.
"But, at the end of the day, they are a quality line-up, they are one of the best teams in the world. You can never underestimate a team like that," he added.
Labuschagne mentioned how, on their last tour of Australia, India overcame severe physical setbacks to write history. Virat Kohli was unavailable after the first Test when they were bowled out for 36 in Adelaide but India defied the odds despite losing several important players to injuries during the series
India selected a very depleted side in their historic victory in the final at the Gabba in Brisbane, with rookies T Natarajan and Washington Sundar filling in as reserves.
"That's what happened in 2021. The likes of Natarajan played. Siraj got his first crack in Australia. Washington Sundar played. Shubman Gill played those last couple of games. But, they were a quality line-up. They have shown that over a period of time you can't ever underestimate the depth of Indian cricket. Anyone who gets the opportunity to play for India has done a lot of hard work to get into the side. To get into the team, you have to play a good player," Labuschagne said.
Perth's Optus Stadium will host the first Test match between Australia and India starting on November 22. To finalize a well-balanced lineup, both sides have started practising at Optus Stadium.
