Team India is all set for their next assignment, which is the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting from February 9 in Nagpur, and it would not be an easy task for the ‘Kangaroos’ to win it as they have failed to clinch a Test series in India since 2004-05.
However, former Australian spinner Steve O’Keefe sees this differently. He, during an interaction with Australian media backed the players, who have already toured India to perform exceedingly well in the series.
“I think they went the sucker punch first-up where they could get ahead in the series. I’m so bullish about this team,”, O’Keefe told the Herald and The Age.
“A lot of those guys who are part of that (2017) experience would have learned so much from that. At times we got close, and the next time becomes a little bit easier. I believe that is going to be the case this time.
“We’re going over with a strong batting group who play spin really well. Marnus (Labuschagne) hasn’t played over there but is a good player of spin, we’ve seen that already. Cameron Green is elite, so I feel this group is strong,” he added.
Recalling Australia’s heroics in Pune in 2017, O’Keefe said: “The pitch spun a great deal. Steve played an amazing innings.”
“It’s just interesting over there, you’ve just got to get ahead of the game, and it’s very hard to get ahead in India. But that’s the key.
“They very rarely give you an opportunity. And when you can sniff it, you’ve got to take full advantage of it. You’ve got to try and find a way to accelerate the game, so you’re so far ahead of them that they’re coming from well behind,” he added.