Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar said captain Virat Kohli's departure will leave a "void" for India in their Test tour of Australia, but added that it will hand a golden opportunity to a younger player.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kohli will only lead the side in the first of the four Tests, starting in Adelaide on December 17, before returning home for the birth of his first child.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
There have been calls from some veterans for Kohli, India's skipper in all three formats, to hand over some of his captaincy duties permanently. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tendulkar would not join that debate, but said India's "bench strength" would help as they bid to win a second straight Test series win in Australia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"When you lose an experienced player like this (Kohli) there is without any doubt a void," Tendulkar, the record run-maker and former India captain told AFP in an interview.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"But let's understand, this is not about individuals. It is about our team and the best part about Indian cricket right now is there is bench strength," added Tendulkar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"So Virat has to come back for personal reasons and some youngster is going to get a chance to play in his spot and that's an opportunity for someone else."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Australia beat India in the one-day series 2-1, with the tourists reversing the result in the Twenty20 matches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kohli's men, who enjoyed a historic first Test series win in Australia on their last tour in 2018-19, know this will be a tougher proposition. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Australia are just ahead of India in the world Test rankings and the Adelaide game will be India's first day-night five-dayer on foreign soil.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- 'Complete bowling attack' -<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tendulkar, 47, said the current Australian side is a lot "stronger" with leading batsmen David Warner and Steve Smith back from the ball-tampering suspensions that kept them out two years ago.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"From the last time that Australia played India they have got three important players. They have got Warner who is back in the team, Smith and (Marnus) Labuschagne," said Tendulkar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"This is a far better squad compared to the earlier one. When a couple of your senior members are not there, suddenly that void is felt and that is what Australia felt."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But Tendulkar insisted that India's bowling attack led by the fiery Jasprit Bumrah and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is also stronger and can challenge Australia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Every era should be kept separate, I don't like comparing," he said, when asked if this was the strongest attack India has produced.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"But I can say that it (India) is a complete bowling attack. So it doesn't matter what kind of surface you are playing on, you have got all sides covered.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"You have got bowlers who can swing the ball. When it comes to variations and awkwardness, that is also there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Someone hitting the deck hard is also there. We have got a wrist spinner, we have got finger spinners."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tendulkar, a right-hand batting maestro, made his debut for India aged just 16 in 1989 and set a swathe of batting records before retiring in 2013.<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Sachin-Tendulkar.jpg", "alt_img": "Sachin Tendulkar", "alt_title": "Virat Kohli", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "Virat Kohli absence will create 'void' for India in test series against Australia says Sachin Tendulkar", "seo_desc": "Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar said captain Virat Kohli's departure will leave a \"void\" for India in their Test tour of Australia, but added that it will hand a golden opportunity to a younger player.", "seo_keywords": "India tour of Australia 2020-21, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar", "tag": "", "tagging": "India tour of Australia 2020-21,Virat Kohli,Sachin Tendulkar,", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "kohli-absence-will-create-void-for-india-tendulkar", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "3800", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "1", "created": "2020-12-11 00:50:36", "updated": "2020-12-11 00:50:36", "img_from": "Google", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": "Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, India Tour of Australia 2020-21", "livescore_text": "", "livescore_link": "", "btn_text": "", "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "1", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2020-12-11 00:50:36", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2020-12-11 00:50:36", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/kohli-absence-will-create-void-for-india-tendulkar-68370" }