Pat Cummins of Australia and Jasprit Bumrah of India pose with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Since 2014, serial global trophy winners Australia have laid their hands on two 50-over World Cups (2015, 2023), four Ashes (2017-2018, 2019, 2021-2022, 2023), one T20 World Cup (2021) and the mace that declared them the latest World Test Champions (2023).
One piece of silverware, though, has proved curiously elusive — the Border Gavaskar Trophy. It’s the prize for winning the Test series between India and Australia, named after two legendary cricketers, Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, who were the second and first to cross the 10,000-run mark in Tests, respectively.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Contested since 1996, Australia last touched it in 2014-2015, when they beat India 2-0 Down Under in the four-match series. The following four installments, all tightly contested, have been pocketed by India 2-1.
Thanks to Rishabh Pant’s maverick genius at the Gabba in Jan 2021, TV stations and fans asked for more and what have you: A first five-Test series of the BGT. VVS Laxman’s heroics in Kolkata and the thrilling Test series of 2000-01 resulted in a three-Test series growing into a four-Test affair and it seems Pant’s pyrotechnics have had the same effect.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, not known for hyperbole, equated the IndiaAustralia rivalry to the Ashes. Ditto for former Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan. It’s up to the visitors now though to justify this massive hype.
With the bitter taste of a 0-3 home humbling against New Zealand still lingering, India, led by Jasprit Bumrah, will be up against it when they square off against Pat Cummins’ Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth on what is likely to be a fast and bouncy pitch for the first Test.
The build up to the series has been far from ideal for the visitors. Regular skipper Rohit Sharma will be missing because he is on paternity leave. Mohammed Shami, probably India’s finest exponent of seam and swing, is injured. Their promising No. 3 bat Shubman Gill, who has the game to succeed on the pacy wickets of Australia and is extremely safe in the slips, is nursing a thumb injury. Virat Kohli, their batting heartbeat, is out of form.
While India had contingency plans in place for Rohit’s absence, Gill’s injury is a setback as it has forced mass changes to the top six.
KL Rahul, short of confidence and pathologically inconsistent, will be forced to open, as the team management isn’t confident about Abhimanyu Easwaran after the Bengal batter didn’t make the four innings he got to impress against Australia A in the two games. Patience as a commodity is in short supply when teams are losing.
Karnataka left-hander Devdutt Padikkal, who was on the way back home after his exertions for India A, was asked to unpack and report to Perth and will probably take Gill’s place at the No. 3 spot. Wicketkeeperbatter Dhruv Jurel, who batted well for India A, scoring twin 50s at the MCG, is expected to bat at No. 6, a spot that would normally have gone to Sarfaraz Khan.
There is talk of the visitors opting for the medium pace bowling allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy to hold one end up and give a breather to pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep.
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What that will also ensure is that the tail isn’t made up of four No. 11s. India are expected to go in with a 4-1 combination with offie R Ashwin likely to do the spin-bowling duties, keeping in mind the Aussie top seven, which features three left-handers. The hype in Australia has been unprecedented ever since it was announced in April 2022 that the BGT will be a five-Test series. Captain Cummins (269 wickets) spent most of his time answering questions on the India series even while playing the first two ODIs vs Pakistan.
He forms one fourth of arguably the greatest bowling quartet Australia have ever produced with Mitchell Starc (358), Josh Hazlewood (273) and offspinner Nathan Lyon (530).
All of them are adequately rested and have prepared well by playing the odd Sheffield Shield game to shake off red-ball rust.
There are a few worries surrounding the dipping batting averages of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head in the current WTC. But history suggests the sight of India has always sparked an uptick in their form and fortunes.
Australia hold all the aces. Can cornered India do an encore of 2021?
