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Even without Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia tour will be challenging: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

India will play three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs Down Under beginning with the first T20I on November 21.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been rested for the first two ODIs against West Indies following a gruelling England tour and 2018 Asia Cup. @ AFP
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been rested for the first two ODIs against West Indies following a gruelling England tour and 2018 Asia Cup. @ AFP

India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been rested for the first two ODIs against West Indies following a gruelling England tour and 2018 Asia Cup, feels the tour of Australia will be challenging despite the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, currently serving suspensions for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town this year.

“It [the Australian tour] will be challenging, no tour is easy. But Australia will be challenging because when you play outside your home [country], you need to adapt to certain conditions. It won’t be easy for bowlers as there is hardly any movement these days,” Bhuvneshwar said on Monday.

“I cannot say that we will overcome them. They don’t have the two batsmen [Smith and Warner], who have done well over the years. But there are other batsmen in their place and it is not that they aren’t good.”

“It’s their home conditions. For us, if the two (Smith and Warner) were there, it is a challenge, now they are not there, it will still be a challenge. If it would have been easy, we would have always won the series [in the past]. It won’t be easy. Our preparation in the practise matches there will matter,” he said.

India will play three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs Down Under beginning with the first T20I on November 21.

Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar, who has played 92 ODIs and 21 Tests, hailed the team management’s rotation policy. “The way fast bowlers are managed, the rotation policy is in a way good, as we get a break and others get a chance and the body remains fresh,” he said.

“Breaks are needed after you play a long tour. You are mentally tired, like Jasprit [Bumrah] said that when you return, you are fresh and are rearing to go. Hence, breaks are needed, as your body gets tired.”

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