Ex-Australian opener Matthew Hayden has stressed that the game can have a flip in the course during the day-night Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in 2024-25. The 52-year-old attributed home advantage not being with Australia to pink-ball Tests adding that the hosts can also lose wickets in a bundle.
Of the 12 pink ball Tests which the team has played, and all of them in home conditions, Australia has been beaten only once and that too by the West Indies in the ongoing year. Due to the pink ball being in play for a longer time, especially in the post-dinner session, teams are bundled out in a cluster.
Twilight Conditions: Hayden Warns of Challenging Overheads in CEAT Cricket Awards
Appealing on the pupils of the CEAT Cricket Awards, Hayden expounded that the overhead conditions during twilight is when getting becomes much more dreadful and teams ought to be wary. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he stated:As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he stated:
“One is a day-night Test match [in Adelaide] – the second Test match. Again, once you get those overhead conditions under that twilight zone, they can be really difficult [to bat on]. I would go as far as to say that the home advantage in Australia has been taken away quite a lot, simply on the basis that if you get the wrong side of a certain session, be that you’re 4 for 130, at twilight, you can be 8 for 150. So there’s no chance to naturally dominate a game,”
Adelaide Test Flashback: Hayden Recalls India’s Close-Run Affair Against Australia
“You look at the line-ups, and it’s hard to really tell who’s got the edge. I sense that it’s going to be runs that are going to be the point of difference. So the best need to stand up in this series; runs are going to be at a premium. And I also feel like the structure of the tournament being from the west to the east is a bit of the unique way that the Australian landscape of cricket is going to be played out. It’s usually the other way around. It’s going to be a great summer,”
India have won all the Test series they have played in Australia since the tour of 2014-15.