The nostalgia of Brisbane 2021 refuses to fade but India, still reeling from a bitter home debacle, will be under tremendous pressure when they face an equally circumspect Australia in a battle of two out-of-form batting units in the opening Test of the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting here on Friday.
In 2018-19 and 2020-21, India proved that lightning can strike twice with back to back series wins but the manner in which New Zealand came, saw and decimated them on home turf recently has certainly hit the psyche of an otherwise world-class unit. The undeniable truth is that some of the stars driving this unit are in the twilight of their hallowed careers. How the five-match rubber against Australia’s Pat Cummins and his men unfolds could well decide their future.
AUS vs IND : Previous Performances
The much awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy is moments away as India and Australia are scheduled to clash in the first Test at Optus Stadium in Perth. The high-voltage matchup will begin on November 22 from 7.50 AM IST. Both sides are expected to put their best foot forward as WTC 2025 final qualification is at stake.
Australia, despite being a lethal force at home, flunked against an injury-riddled India in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Series. In fact, they are yet to win the prestigious trophy since 2016. Hence, a fire of revenge is certainly burning in the Aussie dressing room. Heading into the Perth Test, Australia has curated a pitch that suits them, i.e., pacey and bouncy with tons of grass.
While Cameron Green is injured, Nathan McSweeney is expected to make his debut. Smith and Labuschagne will also be a threat, given their phenomenal record at home. Starc, Hazlewood, and Cummins will spearhead the pace department, and this trio will essentially be difference makers. Overall, Australia are favourites owing to their perfect win record at the Perth Stadium.
India is not only under pressure to defend the BGT title but also qualify for the WTC 2025 finals. Coming from a whitewash defeat at home, the spirit is low in the visitors dressing room. Moreover, the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill has further dented their odds to win. Regardless, skipper Jasprit Bumrah and head coach Gautam Gambhir are embracing the challenge head on.
Youth will be in focus as Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Reddy, and Nitish Rana are in line for a call-up. Virat Kohli, who mastered the art of scoring runs in Australia, will be under the spotlight in what could be a farewell series for him.
KL Rahul is likely to open and given his recent struggles, expectations will be low. Moreover, the Perth pitch will test the true character of Indian batters. The practice game wasn’t promising, and hence, the visitors are in for some trouble in the opening game of the Border-Gavaskar Series.
AUS vs IND : Head to Head
India and Australia have faced each other in 107 matches in Test. Out of these 107 games , India have won 32 whereas Australia have come out victorious on 45 occasions . 29 matches ended with draw. 1 match ended with tied.
AUS vs IND : Pitch Report
The pitch at Optus Stadium in Perth for the first Test between Australia and India is expected to offer good pace and bounce, reminiscent of the traditional WACA ground. With 8-10 mm of grass remaining, fast bowlers are likely to find assistance early on, particularly on Day 1.
As the match progresses, the surface will wear, potentially allowing for some turn and variable bounce, especially by Day 3. By Day 4 and Day 5, uneven bounce may complicate batting, challenging players to adapt their techniques. Overall, the pitch promises an exciting contest between bat and ball, favoring fast bowlers initially while requiring resilience from batters as conditions evolve.
Perth pitch will be a classic Australian surface with tons of grass. As per the images released, the ball will carry good bounce, and under overcast conditions, pacers will gain significant lateral movement. Spinners will have too little help until the ball gets slightly old.
The margin of error is low for batters against bowlers with precision. Moreover, the average first inning total is 456, with anything around 150 a chasable target in 4th inning. Hence, toss will play a key role. Irrespective of the conditions, batting first should be a no-brainer choice for both captains to avoid batting last.
The pitch at Perth Stadium is likely to have a thick grass coverage that will benefit fast bowlers in the first Test. It should provide good pace and extra bounce to trouble batsmen from both sides. Bowlers will also see good seam movement, particularly when the new ball is in play. As the Kookaburra ball wears down, scoring runs may become a bit easier for the batters. Nonetheless, seam bowlers will remain impactful throughout the five days, while spinners like Nathan Lyon, known for their overspin, will find success at this ground.
The weather in Perth will be sunny and pleasant throughout the five days of the Test. It will be breezy in the afternoon, which should help the seamers.
The average score batting first at the Optus Stadium in Perth is 457 across four Tests. The highest total posted at the venue is Australia’s 598-4 dec versus West Indies in 2022. They won that match by 164 runs. We are expecting a spicy wicket this time, so a score of around 300-350 runs by the team batting first will keep them in a strong position in the match.
AUS vs IND : Big Picture : India faces daunting task ahead of resurgent Australia in their own den
A record third World Test Championship final entry that looked imminent before the start of the New Zealand series, now seems like a distant dream. A 4-0 score-line has become an absolute necessity for India to avoid relying on other teams. And a 4-0 scoreline on Australian soil is as improbable a proposition as an Indian football team beating Brazil or Argentina in a FIFA friendly.
But anyone who has seen this current bunch from close quarters will vouch that this team can bounce back from the brink. It also tends to play its best cricket when Doubting Thomases enjoy a condescending chuckle at their expense.
In this backdrop, Australia, ready to avenge the humiliation suffered in last five years, face a team that enters the cage without its regular skipper (Rohit Sharma on paternity break), its best exponent of reverse swing (Mohammed Shami, still not 100 per cent fit) and a future skipper (Shubman Gill, thumb fracture).
An Australia series is known to make or break careers. Sachin Tendulkar scored a hundred on a WACA track with ‘snake cracks’ and the world took notice while Dilip Vengsarkar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth were forced to walk into the sunset back in 1991-92.Virat Kohli, Rohit, who will arrive before the second Test in Adelaide, and senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin are facing that moment of reckoning yet again and an indifferent result could have repercussions.
Kohli’s coronation as ‘King Kohli’ happened in 2014 in this very country with those four hundreds while Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant still make appearances in the nightmares of the Aussie bowling quartet, which will certainly be playing its last Border-Gavaskar series together.
This will perhaps be the series which will be decided by bowlers more than ever with Jasprit Bumrah, leading in the opening game, entrusted with the duty of setting the tone against a line-up which has been far from its best even at home in recent times. Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep are likely to be Bumrah’s partners but the lanky Prasidh Krishna and the burly Harshit Rana are also staking a claim with impressive skill sets.
Whatever be the composition, the home batters cannot afford to take it lightly. Steve Smith’s average in the current WTC cycle (2023-25) is just around 36 while his career average is an impressive 56 plus in over 100 Tests. Marnus Labuschagne’s career average is nearly 50 but in the last two years, it has nose-dived to less than 30.
Travis Head has been India’s nemesis in back to back ICC finals within months of each other but even his average is a lowly 28 plus in this cycle. Save for Usman Khawaja, who even at the business end of his career epitomizes consistency, keeper Alex Carey and skipper Cummins, who is now a proper all-rounder, the batting hasn’t exactly inspired confidence.
Australia’s tail has a better chance of wagging given that India are mulling on playing the better spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin instead of a far better batter in Ravindra Jadeja. It could be a tactical call looking at the moisture and bounce available on a first track and the world knows that Ashwin is a shade better compared to Jadeja when it comes to bowling on opening day tracks if need be.
To ensure that India’s tail isn’t as big as that of Kangaroos found in Australian Outback’s, rookie all-rounder Nitish Reddy is expected to be thrown at the deep end of the pool with hope and a prayer that he can be a steady fourth pacer giving 12 to 15 overs per day.
In batting, three of India’s top six batters have never played in Australia and two of them have a cumulative Test experience of four games. But there’s something in Yashaswi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel that inspires confidence.
They will have Rishabh Pant, perhaps one of the finest Test batters India have produced in the last five years, and a mildly under-confident but stylish KL Rahul for company. If they fire in unison, India will be more than handful.
IND vs AUS : Vital Stats that matters
- Marnus Labuschagne averages 103.80 with 521 runs in at the Optus stadium, which also includes a double hundred.
- Since 2023, Pat Cummins has been the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers, with 59 wickets to his name, including 4 five-wicket hauls and 3 four-wicket hauls.
- In 2024, Yashaswi Jaiswal stands out as the only Indian player to have scored over 1,000 runs, which includes two centuries and seven fifties.
- Virat Kohli needs 350 to become the third-highest run-scorer in international cricket, going past Ricky Ponting. Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara are first and second on the list.
- Virat Kohli needs 1 century to become the Indian batter with most Test hundreds in Australia. Kohli is locked on six hundreds with Sachin Tendulkar.
- Yashaswi Jaiswal needs 444 runs to become India’s leading run-scorer in a calendar year. Sachin Tendulkar holds the record with 1562 runs back in 2010.
- R Ashwin has the chance to be the fastest Indian to 550 Test wickets. Anil Kumble reached the landmark in 115 Tests. Overall, Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record in 94 Tests.
- Jasprit Bumrah has the chance to become the fastest Indian pacer to 200 Test wickets. Kapil Dev holds the record after he got there in his 50th Test back in 1983
IND vs AUS : Team Previews
Australia Preview:
Australia are a formidable force on home soil, and their squad is well-equipped to challenge India in these conditions. Debutant Nathan McSweeney, who boasts a strong first-class average of 42.25 over the past two years, is set to open the innings alongside the experienced Usman Khawaja.
In the middle order, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith may have been short on consistency recently, but their reputation as world-class batters, particularly against India, makes them key players in the series. Labuschagne, particularly, loves batting on this ground and averages over a 100 here per match.
Travis Head, another standout player, has delivered consistently in Tests, averaging 42 with a strike rate of 78 in his last 30 matches. The bowling attack, spearheaded by Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, will test India’s batters. Expect both these new ball bowlers to make some early strikes.
Josh Hazlewood’s 51 wickets against India at an average of 26.94 make him a potent weapon. Nathan Lyon, known for his success at the Optus Stadium, has claimed 27 wickets in four Tests there, averaging just 18, and will be a key figure in Australia’s plans.
Key Players: Pat Cummins, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Hazlewood
Australia Probable Playing XI : Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk.), Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc
India Preview
India head into the first Test against Australia with injury setbacks and a reshuffled lineup. Regular captain Rohit Sharma’s absence sees Jasprit Bumrah stepping in as skipper.
KL Rahul is expected to open with Yashaswi Jaiswal in Rohit’s absence. With Shubman Gill out injured from the first Test due to a thumb injury, Devdutt Padikkal is likely to be the No. 3.
With Jaiswal and Padikkal having never played a Test in Australia, the onus will be on the senior pros, Rahul and Virat Kohli, to do the bulk of the scoring. But both of them are out of form. In fact, Kohli averages only 23 in 6 Tests in 2024.
Having said that, Jaiswal has been India’s best batter in Tests this year, and it won’t be surprising if he top-scores for India here.
In the middle order, Dhruv Jurel’s strong outing against Australia A, scoring 80 and 68, has put him in contention for the No.6 spot. Rishabh Pant, who averages 62.40 in Australia is expected to continue his excellent form after his return to international cricket.
Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will lead the bowling attack, with Akash Deep likely to join as the third seamer. Perth’s lively pitch favors pace, so Nitish Kumar Reddy could debut as a pace-bowling all-rounder, edging out Harshit Rana. This setup might limit India to just one spinner, either Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja.
Key Players: Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Virat Kohli
India Probable Playing XI : Yashaswi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk.), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
AUS vs IND Fantasy XI : KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah
AUS vs IND : Match Prediction
Australia’s win percentage is exceptional at Perth Stadium. Moreover, after comparing both squads and gauging their pace bowling strength, it’s safe to say Australia will win this Test and take a 1-0 lead in the 5-game series.
Australia are yet to lose a match at the Optus Stadium in Perth. They are the home side and have a side that has most bases covered. India, on the other hand, would have been shaken after that home series defeat to New Zealand.
They are also without two of their top batters. So the visitors have their task cut out. Their best bet will be if their fast bowlers run through Australia’s inconsistent batting unit. But looking at the strengths and weaknesses of both teams, we feel Australia are favorites to dominate this contest. Australia are favorites to win the first Test and make it 1-0 but much to the verbal match ups before the series Australia would be wary of savage Indian comebacks especially in their own den and hardly would take India lightly.