Former Australian coach John Buchanan braces for the Australian side against India for the anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy will commence on November 22nd.
India has been victorious on both occasions in their tour to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2018/19 and 2020/21. Moreover, the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy (2022/23) hosted by India had India clinch the tournament by 2-1. The 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be India’s tour to Australia. The series consists of five test matches. The first Test(22 Nov-26 Nov) will be held in Perth. Adelaide will host the second Test(Dec 06-Dec 10). The third Test(Dec 14-Dec 18) will be at Brisbane. Melbourne will host the fourth Test(Dec 26-Dec 30). The final Test(Jan 03-Jan 07) will be in Sydney.
I Favour The Australian Bowling Lineup Says John Buchanan
John Buchanan, the former Australian coach, considers Australia as favorite to win the tournament. The cricketing legend mentioned that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the touring countries due to the lack of preparation for traveling teams in the visiting country. According to him, teams don’t have enough time to adjust to the conditions in the host country. John Buchanan present at the launch of multi-sports foundation program ‘Ready Steady Go Kids’ in Mumbai said that,
“I never make predictions, but I would just say that Australia is favoured going into the series right at this stage. When you look around world cricket these days, and it has been for some time, it’s very difficult to tour other countries, and the reason for that is the travelling teams no longer have that preparation in a country (they are visiting),”
John Buchanan further mentioned that although India will be playing against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the wickets will be quite different in Australia. Buchanan noted that India will face difficulty in Perth as it is fast and bouncy.
“They don’t play two or three games prior to playing the first Test match to adjust to a country, because nobody wants to tour for that long. That makes it very difficult when you go to Perth, where it’s fast and bouncy. India will be playing against Bangladesh (and New Zealand) at home prior to that, so the wickets are going to be completely different,”
Furthermore, John Buchanan stated that playing five Tests will not make a significant difference because, by the time they reach Sydney, both teams will have endured the challenges of four hard-fought Test matches in a relatively short period. John Buchanan also said that the five-match Test series will truly Test the physical and mental resilience of the players throughout the series.
“Five Tests does make a difference because by the time they reach Sydney, both teams will have played presumably four hard Test matches in a short period of time. So, that’s going to test everybody physically and mentally right through the series,”
John Buchanan further said that he finds the Australian bowling lineup superior to that of India. The Australian former coach also said that the batting lineups of Australia and India are both powerful and good, but as the series progresses, the balance of power shifts somewhat in favor of the Australian lineup.
“Both the sides, in a sense, are pretty evenly balanced, with good strong bowling line-ups, but I favour the Australian bowling line-up if I had to compare them. India has good strong batting line-ups, but possibly I would still favour the Australian batting line-up a little bit at this point in time, but just as you go into the series, it’s evenly balanced…”