Ravi Shastri: Why the series over if Australia lose the Adelaide Test

If Australia lose in Adelaide, not only will this series be done and dusted according to RAVI SHASTRI, but the fallout will be enormous - and that’s not the only concern for the home side.

I have been coming to this country for 45 years and rarely have I seen an Indian team who believe within their dressing room that they are better than their Australian counterparts – a better all-round team.

Back in the day, we knew you had to play out of your skins to even compete against the Australians, forget defeat them.

But now – and it’s been building up towards it over the past 10 years – this Indian team knows they can beat Australia even on its best day, regardless of how many big names are in the team.

That brings me to Australia and how massive this Test is for Pat Cummins, and his team.

If they lose this, they will not come back into this series. India however will be in it right till the very end, right till Sydney, even if they lose in Adelaide.

This Test is bigger for Australia than it is for India. That doesn’t happen very often when you’re on tour here.

Australia's captain Pat Cummins attends a press conference at the Adelaide Oval. Picture: AFP

So, what if Australia does go down again, like it did in Perth?

The change of guard is inevitable. I expect many changes. But the bigger problem that I’ve learnt is the lack of depth in this country all of a sudden. If you open the door, who’s falling out? The cupboard is bare from what I’ve heard.

Australia, as opposed to earlier years, has taken a lot longer to get into a rebuilding phase and I believe it will come to hurt it in the long run, or even possibly in the immediate future.

I said this in my last column as well about there being too many batters in the Australian team who are no longer at their peak. That said, they are still the kinds of players who can turn this series around for Australia.

What happens when a player gets into their late 30s is that you can no longer maintain the consistency of old. You might still be good enough to produce a matchwinning knock occasionally but it’s difficult to get on a run-scoring spree. You’ll see that more and more with some of them in the current Aussie team. It’s understandable.

Former player, coach, and now commentator Ravi Shastri has put the spotlight on Australia’s lack of depth. Picture: Getty Images

What surprises me is how it’s changed here. During my playing days, Australia always seemed to have ready-made replacements for the greatest players of every generation.

Whether it’s when Adam Gilchrist replaced Ian Healy or even earlier when you had the Waugh twins come in and take over from the likes of David Hookes and Dean Jones – and both Hookes and Jones were at the top of their game when they had to give way to the future. Both of those could have carried on for quite a while. I don’t know whether that can happen right now with this Australian team.

Those are two classic examples. But there are so many more.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is proof of India’s deep talent pool and planning for the future. Ravi Shastri has called out the lack of ready-made replacements on the Australian side. Picture: Getty Images

Even when Australia seemed to be in the middle of its most talked-about transition period in the mid-1980s it had a tough as nails character like Allan Border to groom the youngsters. AB was the perfect guy to get the guys coming in to rally around him.

I’ve really liked what I’ve seen of Sam Konstas so far.

If I were in any kind of position of decision-making within the Australian set-up, it wouldn’t have taken me two minutes to look in that direction.

I’ve only seen the kid on TV for now. But his innings in Canberra against some top-quality Indian bowling was enough to convince me that he’s got an X-factor about him. There’s a lot of flair, youthful exuberance and most importantly the fearlessness to boot.

Ravi Shastri has liked what he’s seen from Sam Konstas, Picture: Getty Images

He comes with no baggage and I know there’s not a big tradition of blooding them very young in Australia, but I’d take that chance with young Konstas.

It’s one thing to say however that there is no intimidation left for young Indian players when it comes to playing in Australia. But that doesn’t mean they can get complacent after their big win in Perth.

It’s wonderful that Rohit Sharma will be back and maybe another experienced player too, which will mean a lot of their players will be on their fourth or fifth tours of Australia. I’m sure they’ll make sure everyone stays grounded.

They’ll also know that right now, all the focus and scrutiny is on Australia.

The next five days will tell you where Australia stands as a Test team. All eyes are on the home team.

Originally published as Ravi Shastri: Why the series over if Australia lose the Adelaide Test