Matthew Hayden expects that the upcoming edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be fairly even and the team batting better throughout the course of the series will end up taking the honours.
Hayden opines that both units are formidable enough on paper and “it's hard to really tell who's got the edge”.
"You look at the line-ups, and it's hard to really tell who's got the edge," Hayden was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo on the sidelines of the Ceat Cricket Rating Award ceremony. "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."
Hayden also believes that the presence of drop-in wickets down under has taken away Australia’s home advantage to a larger extent.
"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."
Hayden’s belief contradicts his former teammate Ricky Ponting’s prediction that he made for the series. Speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, Ponting had predicted a 3-1 win for Australia down under.
Hayden, 52, also mentioned that he is excited to watch Yashasvi Jaiswal engage in a face-off against the trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and how he adapts to the quicker and bouncier tracks in Australia.
"I think he's a package," Hayden said. "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."
