The highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy is just around the corner and cricket enthusiasts across the world are waiting for the competition between the two cricketing giants to kick off. The first Test is scheduled to commence on Thursday, February 9 at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur at 9:30 AM IST.
Heading into this age-old intriguing Test bilateral series, Rohit Sharma and his men aren’t just eyeing to defend the BG Trophy but also to book a berth in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-2023. The skipper himself will be playing his first Test match since the home series against Sri Lanka in 2022. The Indian team’s star batter, Virat Kohli has been struggling with his form in the longest format, but he managed to regain his form in white ball cricket and will be looking to go all guns blazing in the upcoming BG Trophy. The nightmare of the Aussies and the glue that holds the Indian batting line-up, Cheteshwar Pujara has done well in the whites lately as he scored a century in his previous Test series itself. The veterans of the team might have to kick up a notch but the new guns have been right on the money. The likes of Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj have been giving some tough times to the opponents in the longest format lately. The absence of Rishabh Pant is a major drawback for the Men in Blue but the availability of attacking batters like Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan could solve that problem. The Indian camp will be counting on the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who have troubled Australia in both home and away conditions.
On the other end, Australia will walk into this series as the table topper of the WTC 2021-23. In the current cycle, the Aussies have only lost one Test and have pocketed victories in Pakistan and Sri Lanka too. Pat Cummins is having a glorious run as a captain and will look forward to continuing the momentum against the Indians. The Aussies could pose a serious threat to the Indians only if Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan Lyon fire against the Men in Blue. Smith and Lyon have rich experience in the Indian sub-continent and have also fared well on previous tours. The Cummins-led Australian team has claimed to be fully prepared against the Ashwin factor on a rank-turner. Before the commencement of the series, Australia have been hit with injuries as Josh Hazlewood and Cameron Green have been ruled out of the first Test in Nagpur.
Head-to-head:
In the head-to-head competition between the two teams in the longest format, Australia have the upper hand with 43 victories and 30 defeats. The two teams have collided on 102 occasions in the Test format, which also contains 28 stalemates.
In the BG Trophy head-to-head, the hosts are superiors as they won 22 Test matches and lost 19 out of 52 fixtures. A total of 15 BG Trophy editions have been played with India gathering the most series victories with nine and Australia with five. India won the previous BG Trophy held in Australia by claiming a historic victory at the Gabba.
Where-to-watch
TV: Star Sports
OTT: Disney+ Hotstar