The most awaited Test series of the year is here as The Border - Gavaskar trophy starts on the 9th of February at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur.
This Border - Gavaskar trophy has already created hype more than the Ashes. Australia last won a BGT in 2014/15, like 8 years back. Since then, they have lost two trophies at home and one in India. They are desperate to again touch the trophy.
Australia, as always, has started the mind games whenever they come here. Former Australian cricketers had started talking about the pitch even before the series, and they got an appropriate response from former Indian cricketers too, things like this have spiced up the series' excitement.
The Border Gavaskar is not just about cricket being played; it’s about sledging, mind games, brain fades, toughness, determination, grind, etc.
Team News – Australia:
The Australians have come to this series with lots of expectations. They are practicing on rank tuner pitches, practicing against the bowler having similar actions and releases to Ashwin, they are leaving no stone unturned this time around. Since the start of 1st Jan 2017, Australia has played 17 test series overall, out of which they have lost only 5, three of these losses have come against team India. This time at any cost they want to take Border - Gavaskar trophy home.
Australia's batters are practicing hard against Ashwin's ball-alike Mahesh Pithiya in the nets, they are well aware of how damaging Ashwin can be in Indian conditions.
Australia's top order has scored some heavy runs barring David Warner in the last few years.
Stats of last 3 years:
1) Marnus is leading the charts with 1691 runs at an average of 56 and has 6 centuries to his name.
2) Steve Smith is 2nd with 1420 runs at an average of 50 and has 4 centuries to his name.
3) Usman Khawaja has scored 1275 runs with 5 centuries at an average of 76.
4) Travis Head with 1035 runs to his name is the most impactful batsman for Australia in the last few years and he's scored these runs at a strike rate of almost 80.
Looking at the way these batters are playing, it will be a tough ask for Indian bowlers to keep them quiet. Australia's only concern in batting is the form of senior pro-David Warner. Barring the double century, he scored in the last series vs South Africa; he's failed to create any impact.
In the pace bowling department, Australia already has got two huge blows. Mitchell Starc - left arm fast and Josh Hazlewood - Right arm fast have been ruled out of the first Test which is to be played at Nagpur. Cameron Green is also in doubt to bowl in first test so there are plenty of headaches for Pat Cummins as he looks for a partner in pace bowling. In the spin department, Ashton Agar - left-arm orthodox is set to partner Nathan Lyon.
Players to look out for:
1) Steve Smith
He's touring India for the 3rd time, let's first look at his stats in India.
Matches - 6
Runs - 660
Average - 63.00
Hundreds – 3
Highest score - 178*
Steve Smith is currently ranked 2nd in the ICC Test Batting rankings and he's going to be the biggest threat for this Indian team. Last time when Australia toured India, Steve Smith scored 499 runs in 8 innings along with 3 centuries; all of his Runs came in a tough situation, the 109 in the dust ball of Pune where Ashwin and Jadeja were unplayable defines Steve Smith the test player. He's been the best test player of this decade and Australia's faith in series will be decided by how well Steve Smith performs.
2) Marnus Labuschagne
This man, ever since that concussion substitution thing, hasn't looked back. He's scoring runs all over the globe and there's just no stopping him. He's been the leading run scorer for Australia in the last 3 years and thus ranked number 1 In ICC test batters rankings. His toughest test starts on the 9th of Feb when he will be facing the Ashwin-Jadeja pair bowling in India. This series will be career-defining for Marnus Labuschagne.
3) Nathan Lyon
Nathan Lyon has got 460 test wickets to his name and now he's touring India for the 3rd time. He's taken 34 wickets in 7 games when he played in India, with 3 fifers to his name out of which one was a 8-fer and one was a 7-fer. Indian batters who are generally termed as best players of spin have lately been miserable against spinners, and the ones who were doing good; Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant are out of the first test and test series respectively. Nathan Lyon will be the key to Australia's success in Indian conditions.
Team news – India:
India, having won all of the last 3 Border - Gavaskar trophy enters the series as favorites. India last lost a test series on home soil in 2012 and they would love to continue the home domination in tests. India is without their most impactful test batter Rishabh Pant who's been ruled out of cricket for at least 6 - 8 months. Shreyas Iyer, who's been in tremendous form, is also injured and will miss the first test. Now in absence of India's two finest spin players, the team will be dependent highly on their top 4 which consist of skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli. The form of India’s numbers three and four is not so convincing and also, they have very poor numbers against spin but in this series, they need to step up because the Indian team will be needing them the most. In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, India might be tempted to play in-form Shubman Gill and KS Bharat might do the wicketkeeping duties. India's strength in the home conditions in the last few years is the performance of their spin all-rounders, they are not just taking wickets but also scoring heavily down the order. Team India would likely go with three spinners in form of Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, and Axar Patel; M Shami will lead the pace attack along with M Siraj.
Players to look out for:
1) Ravichandran Ashwin - Ravindra Jadeja Duo:
The most threatening pair in test matches. Many big names have failed to put up a score against this duo
Ravi Ashwin vs Australia in home condition:
Matches - 8
Wickets - 50
Average - 23.16
BBI - 7 / 103
5-fer - 5
10-fer - 1
Ravi Jadeja vs Australia in home condition:
Matches - 8
Wickets – 49
Average - 18.02
BBI - 6 / 63
5 fer - 3
Along with bowling, they are also capable of scoring big runs with the bat. If Australia has to see any chance of winning the test series, they will first have to decode this duo. The special thing about the duo is they hunt in pairs. Ravi Ashwin who's scalped the most left-handers will be more than happier to face this Australian lineup as they consist of way too many left-handers in form of David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Alex Carey, M Starc, and J Hazlewood.
2) Rohit Sharma:
The current skipper of team India is probably the best player of spin in this team. Rohit Sharma has shown what he's capable of doing in Indian conditions. Once he sees off the opening spell of pacers, he can take on spinners afterward. This man is expected to have a 400 + runs series this time around.
Rohit Sharma at home in the last 4 years:
Matches played - 11
Runs – 991
Average - 66.06
Hundreds - 4
Strike Rate - 67.92
HS - 212
3) Cheteshwar Pujara:
Cheteshwar Pujara who's been in search of runs for the last few years scored a much-awaited century in the last series against Bangladesh. He's went and played county; he played domestic games and now he's ready to take the Aussie challenge
His stats against Australia at home are so good:
Matches – 9
Runs – 900
Average - 64.28
Hundreds - 2
High score - 204
He's scored two centuries against them which were both converted into double centuries. This man loves playing marathon innings and he's known for troubling Australian bowlers; he played huge roles in India's last 4 Border Gavaskar trophy victories and against the onus to take India home with his marathon innings.
Key Battles:
1) Steven Smith vs Ravichandran Ashwin / Ravi Jadeja
2) Cheteshwar Pujara vs Nathon Lyon
3) Virat Kohli vs Pat Cummins
4) Marnus Labuschagne Vs Ravi Ashwin / Ravi Jadeja
Facts:
Since the commencement of the Border - Gavaskar trophy, Australia has won only one series on the Indian soil (2004).
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
(M Starc and J Hazlewood are out of the first Test)
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav
(S Iyer has been ruled out of the first Test)
