It has to be Virat Kohli as the leading run scorer – Michael Clarke

India will be battling Australia for an all-important five match Test series, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in order to keep themselves in the race to qualify for the WTC Final in 2025.

Earlier, Ricky Ponting, the former Australian captain, said that the needle is heavily tipped towards the Australian side and they might just have an easy outing.

However, another former Aussie skipper, Michael Clarke, has contradicted the statement, underlining that 5-0 might be a preposterous claim. Even though he is expecting results, according to him, it might be 3-2 in favour of the hosts. However, in the process, he also underlined the fact that if India has their big guns firing, things might look tricky for the hosts Down Under.

Talking to TAB, Clarke said, “I am not gonna say 5-0, I really hope Australia win this 3-2, all Test matches get a result, so I hope we get good cricket, so we can see somebody win and somebody lose, and I won't see any draws. I also want the rain to be kind, weather to look after us and stay away cus I would love to see five results.”

Predicting the potential leading run-scorers of the series, Clarke said, “If India are to win the series, it has to be Virat Kohli as the leading run scorer, then Rishabh Pant would be just behind. From Australia’s perspective, I think Smitty (Steve Smith) is due.”

He concluded by picking out the potential bowlers who can be the leading wicket-takers, stating, “Bumrah, leading wicket-taker for India, I think there is expectation around how good he is, and that is going to bring the best out of him. I think some people can shy away from that, and I think he will get better.”