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Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes that the Rohit Sharma-led side must not think about beating Australia 4-0 in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. India and Australia will lock horns against each other for the five-Test match series scheduled to start from November 22. The upcoming red-ball series is important for Men in Blue to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Team India needs to win 4-0 to seal their berth in the WTC final which will take place in England next year.
Manjrekar said that India shouldn’t think too much about it and take one step at a time and mentioned how the first two Tests in Perth and Adelaide are going to challenge them massively. He also sheds light on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's importance for the series.
"4-0, a distant dream, just take one step at a time and the first couple of steps, which is Perth and the next one in Adelaide are going to be India's toughest tests. We need Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, one of them, to have a great series. Problem for India is that the bowling which has been their great strength in the last couple of years, Shami missing,” said Manjrekar on Star Sports.
Team India recently faced a humiliating Test series loss against New Zealand. The Blackcaps become the first side to defeat India 3-0 on their home soil. India batter Virat and skipper Rohit were seen struggling during their last Test outings. This year, Kohli has accumulated 250 runs across six Tests, averaging 22.72 with a single half-century. In contrast, Rohit has scored 588 runs from 11 Tests (21 innings) at an average of 29.40, including two centuries and two fifties. However, Rohit struggled in the recent home season, managing only 133 runs in five matches at an average of 13.30, with just one fifty.
Both Rohit and Virat will be India's vital cog in the upcoming Test series against Australia.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 schedule
The eagerly awaited Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia is set to commence on November 22, with the first Test being held in Perth.
The second Test, taking place from December 6 to 10 at Adelaide Oval, will be a thrilling day-night encounter under the lights. Following this, attention will shift to The Gabba in Brisbane, where the third Test is scheduled from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test at Melbourne’s iconic MCG, running from December 26 to 30, will bring the series to its fourth chapter. Finally, the fifth and concluding Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, setting the stage for an exciting finish to the series.
India squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
