Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden believes Australia's home advantage "has been taken away quite a lot" in recent years, and that runs are going to come at a "premium" in the forthcoming five-match Test series between Australia and India to be played from November 2024 to January 2025.
As for the nature of pitches at the five venues - Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney - Hayden said on the sidelines of the CEAT cricket rating awards that "three [Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne] out of five are drop-in wickets".
"One is a day-night Test match [in Adelaide] - the second Test match," he said. "Again, once you get those overhead conditions under that twilight zone, they can be really difficult [to bat on]. I would go as far as to say that the home advantage in Australia has been taken away quite a lot, simply on the basis that if you get the wrong side of a certain session, be that you're 4 for 130, at twilight you can be 8 for 150.
"So there's no chance to naturally dominate a game. It's quite even the whole time, so it's a very different type of cricket, because you don't have those traditional surfaces."
Australia have not only lost their last two home series against India, thus losing their grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for ten years now, but also saw their fortress in Brisbane breached twice in three years: the defeat to India in January 2021 followed by one against a much lower-ranked West Indies in January earlier this year, which resulted in a 1-1 drawn series.
That slim, eight-run loss to West Indies was also Australia's first in a day-night Test after 11 straight victories.
Expecting the upcoming contest against India to be an "unbelievable and historic series" between the top-two-ranked Test teams in the world, Hayden couldn't pick a favourite for the series, unlike his former captain Ricky Ponting, who has pipped Australia to win 3-1.
"You look at the line-ups, and it's hard to really tell who's got the edge," Hayden said. "I sense that it's going to be runs that are going to be the point of difference. So the best need to stand up in this series; runs are going to be at a premium. And I also feel like the structure of the tournament being from the west to the east is a bit of the unique way that the Australian landscape of cricket is going to be played out. It's usually the other way around. It's going to be a great summer."
For runs, a lot of eyes will be on the experienced Virat Kohli and Steven Smith - the leading run-scorers in Tests for their teams among active players, and also prolific scorers against the teams they're going to face soon. While Kohli averages 47.48 against Australia and 54.08 in Australia, Smith averages an even better 65.87 against India.
"I'm sure those two players, coming now to the later pages of their cricket career, will be very keen to dominate the landscape through the summer," Hayden said. "That's their nature: they do it in very different ways, [and] very different styles, but certainly, they really are the keys to the Australian summer."
Hayden also pointed out the kind of challenge India's batters will have to face in Australian conditions because of the steeper bounce and the size of the grounds across the country. When asked about the kind of impact a young and promising batter like Yashasvi Jaiswal could make, as was pointed out by Nathan Lyon recently, Hayden said Jaiswal had "superb" strokeplay, but that he'll be challenged by three "world-class speedsters".
"I think he's a package," Hayden said of Jaiswal. "Yes, his strokeplay is superb. His ability, in particular, to hit on the up through the covers is phenomenal. [But] that'll also have its vulnerabilities. I'm looking forward to seeing how he adjusts on bouncy tracks. We did notice a few times in the IPL that he's a very hard hitter of the ball - [with the] pull shots in particular.
"But that'll be challenged by three world-class speedsters, assuming they're all fit, and on much bigger grounds as well - grounds where it has to almost be the perfect contact for that ball to sail over for six. You can get caught easily, three-quarters of the way in the fence. So they have little adjustments that world-class players like Jaiswal will make for sure."