India vs Australia: Border-Gavaskar Trophy clash sets the stage for WTC Final push
Team India go into one of their biggest challenges as part of the World Test Championships as they square off against Australia for the latest iteration of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. On the back of a 3-0 defeat against New Zealand, India have copped some serious flak in recent times and that makes this challenge an even more difficult one.
As this series will be featuring five Test matches, if India is to make the most of it with eyes on the WTC final, they will have to register an important series win. However, defeating Australia needs a mindset which will be wrought with fervour and intensity and that coming Down Under will need India to push harder than ever.
Australia, on the contrary, will have a much easier mood in the dugout, considering the fact that they will be coming fresh from a 2-0 triumph against New Zealand in the latter’s backyard. Despite all the sheen in the ongoing campaign, the Aussies need to be careful as well, since a humbling against India might cost them dearly in the race to the WTC final.
Pitch conditions:
The surface in Perth has always been a pacy and fiery one, allowing seamers to make merry. The new ball complicates matters for the batters but then if one can deal with the early tantrums of the new ball, they might have life slightly easier for them. The average first innings score at Perth is 456 which indicates the fact that the batters will have a slight edge going in.
Head to Head:
Matches played: 107
Australia: 45
India: 32
Match Details:
Australia vs India, 1st Test, 2024
Venue: Optus Stadium, Perth
Date: 22nd November, 2024
Time: 7:50 AM IST
Squads:
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland
