There is massive drama when the two big nations India & Australia face off-each other in the Test format. This time, though the Aussies would be aiming to assert their dominance after losing BGT 2023 by 1-2. Cameron Green is considered to be the key for the bumper series who recently smashed 174 runs against New Zealand in 1st Test Match. Cameron Green is someone who can contribute in all the 3 facets of the game which somewhat means that Mitchell Marsh can play his natural attacking game.
India on the other side would be hoping that they settle the score against the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 Champions. We all witnessed how India was outplayed by Aussies even in the presence of India’s star cricketers. Though, this time; the Ajit Agarkar led selection panel have made it clear that they have closed the doors to the senior players and we saw how India won the Test Series against England by 3-1 against all odds.
We want to keep Cameron Green in one format- Andrew McDonald
Andrew McDonald was having an interaction with the reporters ahead of the 2nd Test match against New Zealand starting from 8th March 2024. Andrew McDonald lauded the batting performance of Cameron Green in the 1st Test match and stated that promoting Cameron Green to the No.4 position has been the greatest move by the management & selection panel.
“We felt that by keeping Cameron Green in one format for a period of time gave him the best chance, and that won’t always be the case with everyone. The next stress point on that will be next summer, leading into the Indian Test series where we’ve got Pakistan in ODI cricket and T20 cricket,” said Andrew McDonald.
“The white-ball cricket’s important, but geez that Test summer’s important, so I think with the results he’s had (at Wellington) he’ll probably come to us and say ‘can you give us a couple of Shield games before the first Test against India?’,” he stated.
“His preferred position, as we’ve seen in Shield cricket, is number four and we think he can be a long-term option there. This is a big step towards that. The conversations are that he’s a quality player, and the statistics that everyone was looking at early in his (international) career probably didn’t reflect the player that was in front of us,” he added.
Tough Task for Australia
The Pat Cummins led side will have to play out of their skin to beat the mighty Indians in the BGT 2024-25. The Men in Blue have had the upper hand while playing in Australia, we witnessed how India won last 2 Test series in Australia; 2018-19 under the leadership of Virat Kohli & 2020-21 under Kohli & Ajinkya Rahane.
The trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood & Pat Cummins need to perform according to their credentials. It won’t be a surprise if Scott Boland replaces Mitchell Starc for the majority of the 5 Test Match Series as according to sources with knowledge, it is believed that Starc can be used as a secret weapon as he is not that much consistent as compared to Josh Hazlewood.