It will be a contest to watch out for when India and Australia will be up against each other in the 16th edition of the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy which will be played between February 9 and March 13. Both the teams are grinding out for the elusive glory with their reputation at stake. The four-match Test series will not only settle the ‘Who’s the best side' debate but also decide the course of World Test Championship 2012-2023 final race.
Meanwhile, right ahead of the marquee series, former South African star batter JP Duminy has given his verdict on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy winners and the Player of the series in much advance.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was initiated from the 1996-97 series and since then India have won nine series out of 15 completed so far, while Australia have clinched mere five. One series ended in a draw. Despite the records favouring India, Duminy's thinks Australia will beat the Rohit Sharma's brigade with a 2-1 scoreline in the much anticipated contest.
"I see it as a very close series, but I genuinely think that Australia stand a good chance. They certainly have been the team to beat," Duminy said during a virtual interaction, facilitated by SA T20, where he coaches Paarl Royals team.
"I feel it would be 2-1 to Australia and for me the Player-of-The-Series would be Usman Khawaja," he added. Earlier in January Khawaja smashed a career-best unbeaten 195 against South Africa in Sydney Test.
“You think about (Ravichandran) Ashwin who has a prolific Test record in India, he's probably going to be the key for them. When it comes to Test cricket, you have got to utilise your resources. Guys like (Cheteshwar) Pujara, Virat Kohli who are prolific in Test cricket. They churn out runs after runs. It's an opportunity for those guys to step up,” he further said.
The 38-year-old also gave his views on India's flamboyant batter Suryakumar Yadav who's primed for a Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar series.
"Probably he's one of the most exciting players for India right now. From the way Test cricket is going, as a country you need to decide what is the line of cricket you would be playing. And if it's of the attacking mindset, then he becomes an option, certainly," Duminy said.
India haven't lost a single Border-Gavaskar series since 2017 and boasts off a good chance of winning the series despite the absence of their prime pacer Jasprit Bumrah and star batter Shreyas Iyer.
Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 schedule:
1st Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur - February 9-13
2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi - February 17-21
3rd Test at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala - March 1-5
4th Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad - March 9-13
India’s squad for the first two Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
