Last time, when India toured Australia, the Virat Kohli-led side has created history by winning the Test series for the first time in history. However, a lot of fans and the analysts have felt that the result would have been different if Australia had David Warner and Steve Smith in their lineup.
Australia dearly missed the duo, as Indians showed complete dominance on Australians. The host country tried players like Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris and a few youngsters against India, which didn’t work out well. In the end, they were surrendered to Virat Kohli’s side to add stains to their glorious record.
Missing Smith and Warner was a huge thing – Rahul Dravid
Speaking of the same, the former great Rahul Dravid asked the Indian team to give due importance to Steve Smith and David Warner, who can make an impact. He further recalled the knocks played by Smith and Marnus Labuschagne during Ashes against tough England bowling unit.
“Missing Smith and Warner was a huge thing for Australia because of the impact they have on that team. They are their (Australia’s) top two batsmen, they scored the most number of runs for them,” Dravid said on Sony Ten Pit Stop, which was aired on the channel’s Facebook page on Wednesday.
“We have seen how big an impact someone like Smith had on the Ashes. Even though Warner was out of form, he was able to carry that series along with (Marnus) Labuschagne on his own. But yes, these two guys (Smith and Warner) will make a huge impact in that team, so it will be a bigger and stiffer challenge for India this time around,” he added.
Further, Rahul Dravid highlighted that the Australian team will always use the absence of the star duo as the primary excuse for the loss against India. He wants the Indian team to be on top of their game for the series at the end of this year.
“Australia will always look back on the last series and they can always say look Smith and Warner were not there, our best players were not there, but this time you are going to have all the best players of both the teams,” Dravid said.
