With the end of the T20 World Cup 2024, where India clinched their second title in the history of the tournament, ending their 11-year-long drought of winning an ICC trophy since lifting the Champions Trophy in 2013, their eyes have been on the upcoming five-match Test series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia.
The rivalry between the two nations has grown, especially with the way India has managed to pull them up in the red-ball contests, as they are looking forward to their hat-trick of Test series win in Australia, having enjoyed the same feat under Virat Kohli in 2018-19 and Ajinkya Rahane in 2020-21.
The Pat Cummins-led side showed some resilience and took a little revenge by getting the better of the Blue Brigade during last year’s final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-’23. However, their record against these opponents in bilateral Test series hasn’t been healthy.
“Going for an Australian win 3-2”- Geoff Lawson predicts against India
The Baggy Green, since beating India in a Test series at home during 2014-15, hasn’t won a single series of the format against this opponent as they are keen on showing their skills this time around to grab the BGT. Australia has beaten India only twice in a Test series since 2009.
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They had a pretty good chance last time around, especially after winning the very first of the four-match series in Adelaide, bundling out India for only 36 in the day-night contest, while the opponent captain, Virat Kohli, returned home due to paternity leave and Mohammad Shami, being ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a broken finger.
The former Australian fast bowler, Geoff Lawson, felt it would be quite hard to pinpoint a winner for the upcoming series, as both the teams have a balanced squad and know how to deal with pressure.
“The two teams are very evenly matched across all facets, and India has the recent Down Under-winning experiences to mentally fall back on if they are under pressure.” He was quoted as saying by Mid-Day.
Lawson, however, predicts that Cummins and co. would finally be able to beat India in the upcoming summer.
“Picking a winner is fraught with all sorts of peril, which is exactly how the fans want this series to unfold. I’m very uncertainly going for an Australian win 3-2.” The former Australian coach revealed.
Most of the teams around the world nowadays have been playing the longest format of the game with an aggressive mindset and approach, which has helped the game to produce more results regularly, and that’s where the New South Wales-born believes that the upcoming BGT won’t produce any boring drawn result.
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“With a hot dry Australian summer predicted, I can’t see there being any draws as these two teams have an attacking penchant and the players to deliver quick runs and batting collapses. This could be the best Test series of the 21st century so far and will remind us of how Test cricket is the premium form of the game.” Geoff Lawson shaded light during the conversation.
One of the reasons why India was able to get the better of the opponents on the last two occasions was their pacers picked up 20 wickets in most of the game. This will be their biggest mission, with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Mohammad Siraj being available throughout the summer. The opening game begins on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.