There is a lot of buzz going around the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 as the two sides have a terrific rivalry. Cricket Australia (CA) recently promoted Steve Smith up the order after the retirement of David Warner from the red ball format. Steve Smith smashed a ton against West Indies in the 2nd Test match but against New Zealand he looked in all sorts of trouble.
Steve Smith is looking a bit too much eager to score runs against the recently concluded Tests against New Zealand. With Australia playing their next Test series against India in November 2024, it would be interesting to see how Steve Smith tackles the new ball and India’s lethal pace attack which has had the wood over the mighty Aussies in the last 2 Test series in Australia.
There will be no rush by Australian selectors to make a change to batting order- Mark Taylor backs Steve Smith to come good
Mark Taylor was having an interaction with World Wide of Sports. Mark Taylor pointed out that the pitches in New Zealand were quite bowler friendly and stated that it will be quite tough for Australian selectors to change their batting line up. Mark Taylor was quite dogmatic that Steve Smith will open the batting for the Aussies against India in the next summer.
“The two Test matches were played on pitches that were certainly bowler-friendly and I think that point needs to be made. It’s going to be very difficult for Australia to change now, to be totally honest … I think the die is cast. I think they are going to have to stick that way, because if they want to bring in an opener now, someone is going to have to miss out,” said Mark Taylor.
“You make a change in a team if you think you can make the team better, that’s the bottom line. The side is finding ways to win. There will be no rush by Australians selectors to make a change to our batting order. I think Australia will stick with what they’re doing and stick with Steve Smith to open the batting next summer,” he added.
What lies ahead for India
India undoubtedly are the favorites to win the BGT 2024-25 as they are no longer dependent on the services of the star batters Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara & Ajinkya Rahane. We all witnessed how Rohit Sharma’s brigade won the Test series against England by 4-1 after losing the opening Test match.
The duo of head coach Rahul Dravid & skipper Rohit Sharma have ensured that there is a good environment for the youngsters. All eyes though will be on the lethal & deadly speedster Mohammed Siraj who is in the form of his life. It won’t be wrong to say that India’s arsenal is their pace attack which can take 20 wickets on any surface