Mumbai: Former Australia coach John Buchanan insisted that past results would not really matter when India travels to Australia later this year and India’s chances will depend on how well they will adjust to the conditions.
Pointing out that world over it is getting difficult for travelling teams to win, the 71-year-old said India would be playing Bangladesh at home before heading to Australia and that would give the hosts an advantage at the start of the series.
“I never give predictions, but I will say Australia is favourite at the start of the series. When you look around world cricket these days, it’s very difficult to tour other countries. One of the reason for that is that travelling teams no longer have that preparation of playing two three games before the first Test to get used to conditions,” said Buchanan, who was in Mumbai to launch multi-sports foundation program ‘Ready Steady Go Kids’ with CP Goenka International School on Thursday in partnership with Sports Gurukul.
Started in Australia, the Ready Steady Go Kids Program aims to develop the require motor skills of students in a fun, non-competitive environment. The program currently runs in 13 countries and will expand to various cities in India.
Speaking on the occasion, CP Goenka International School Trustee Archana Goenka, “We are thrilled to welcome legendary cricketer John Buchanan and introduce the Ready Steady Go Kids Program in our schools. This program will not only make sports and physical activity fun, but also enhance child’s confidence and ability to independently finish tasks. It will help in holistic development of children.”
Speaking about what to expect from the Border Gavaskar series, Buchanan said, “It’s going to be a classic series. Five Tests, which is one more Test than what we had previously. It does make a difference as by the time the teams reach Sydney, they would have played presumably four hard Test matches prior to that in short period of time. It’s going to test their resolve physically and mentally.
“The teams are pretty evenly matches with strong bowling line-ups. Personally, I still favour the Australian batting line up a little bit at this point,” said the two-time world cup winning cricket coach.
Jay Shah, Co-Founder of The Sports Gurukul, said “We are excited to bring this program to India in collaboration with John and see this as a go to sports exposure program for 2-6 years old kids in India and there by laying early foundation for more children getting ready for a potential 2036 Olympics in India”
The Australian training program teaches fundamentals of 13 different sports to children aged between 1.5-7 years. This globally recognized program will be introduced in all the 6 schools of CP Goenka Group.
