In modern day cricket the bilateral contest between two top dogs India and Australia rocks the cricket world with more infectious cricket fever than the historic ashes. The only other contest that could not match is Pakistan Vs India. But for political reasons these two popular teams do not play each other in bilateral series for a while.  In 2024 the 5 matches bilateral test series named after two icons Alan Border and Sunil Gavaskar starts today in a situation that can decide whether both or only one of the two qualifies for playing in the final of ICC Test Championship round three in England in 2025.

The teams rank one and two in the current ranking and are closely followed by Sri Lanka and South Africa. India won the last two series in Australia. However, strong India surprisingly getting whitewashed by New Zealand at home only in the recent past is desperate for bouncing back. All eyes of the cricket world will be focused on the series starting today at Perth. It is expected to be a mouth-watering contest between the two evenly matched teams. 

The Squads: 

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (Wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Rishabh Pant (Wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
 
Australia: Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (Wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (Wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.

The character and the nature vary widely in Australian test wickets. Perth and Brisbane usually have pacey, bouncy hard top wickets. Adeliade spins a bit. MCG is a very sporting wicket and SCG assists quality spinners. As far as Australia is concerned it has got the most potent pace attack with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins in full form. Addition of Scott Bolland as the fourth seamer is a bonus whom Australia will unleash to keep Indian batsmen honest. Nahan Lyon is the only genuine spinner who has the habit of taking wicket as his pace bowling mates softens the batsmen from the other end. But Australia may suffer with their batting as evidenced in their ODI series against Pakistan. Australian batsmen struggled against fast short deliveries of Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Co. Retirement of David Warner has left a gaping hole in the opening partnership. Usman Khawaja will have rookie opener Nathan Mc Sweeney as his partner. Australian selectors experimented with Steve Smith for a while. But that gamble will not work. Labuchagne, Smith, Marsh and Head makes the backbone of Australian batting.  It will all depend how Australian top and middle order plays Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj as in the early summer the batsmen looked hesitant against the pace and bounce of the Pakistani pacers. I do not think Indian spinners will cause many worries at Perth, Brisbane or Melbourne. Spinners may play roles at Adelaide and Sydney.  The advantage Australia has that even tail enders like Cummins, Starc and Lyon often makes useful contributions. If Australia regularly produce 350-400 their strong bowling and brilliant fielding will keep them ahead. 

Indian batting surprisingly collapsed against Kiwi bowling (pace and spin) at home in their unprecedented series whitewash. We are not sure how much Indian batting has got out of that trauma. Rohit will be missing the first test being at paternity leave. Shubman Gill is not match fit now. However, young Yashasvi Jaiswal will have his work cut out in an unchartered territory. Virat Kohli looked a bit tentative in the home series. But for a batsman of his caliber one good innings will turn him. Vintage Kohli at his brilliant best can drive Indian batting against any opposition. KL Rahul and Rishav Pant are two other quality batsmen expected to perform. Sarfraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel are two other prospects. 

India needs to win 3-0 at least to walk into the ICC Test Championship final. Otherwise, there will be various permutations and combinations of tests played elsewhere.  Sri Lanka, South Africa and even New Zealand may peep through. At all Australian venues expatriate Indians will outnumber home crowd. Thousands of blue shirts dancing and singing will keep all entertained. 

FULL FIXTURES

• 1st Test, 22-26 November: Australia vs India — Optus Stadium, Perth (1:20pm AEDT)
• 2nd Test, 6-10 December: Australia vs India — Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (3pm AEDT)
• 3rd Test, 14-18 December: Australia vs India — The Gabba, Brisbane (11:20pm AEDT)
• 4th Test, 26-30 December: Australia vs India — MCG, Melbourne (10:30am AEDT)
• 5th Test, 3-7 January: Australia vs India — SCG, Sydney (10:30am AEDT)

BDST: 1159 HRS, NOV 22, 2024
MN