Rohit Sharma-led Team India are currently preparing for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 which is scheduled to take place in Australia later this month. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) added KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel in the India A squad to get comfortable with Australian conditions ahead of tour but after joining the team, KL Rahul who featured as an opener failed to perform. He got out after scoring just four runs.
There are reports that Indian captain Rohit Sharma will miss the first Test match and most probably the second as well citing personal reasons and the Men in Blue are currently looking for an opener who will replace India's captain during his absence.
KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran are the potential candidates to open the batting alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal if Rohit misses the Test but Easwaran has also disappointed in the ongoing tour. In the first unofficial Test in Mackay, he scored just 19 runs. Today, Easwaran had a golden opportunity at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), but he recorded a 3-ball duck. The ball he got was vicious.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 is scheduled to start from November 22 and Team India will feature against Australia after getting whitewashed against New Zealand in the three-Test match series. The upcoming tour of Australia will be important for Rohit Sharma-led India to cement their spot in the World Test Championship final. India needs to win this five-Test match series 4-0 to confirm their berth in the finale which will take place in England next year.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 schedule
The first Test of the series between India and Australia will take place in Perth from November 22 to 26. Following that, the second Test will be a Day/Night match at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. The third Test is scheduled for The Gabba in Brisbane from December 14 to 18, while the fourth Test will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26 to 30. The series will conclude with the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7.
India squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Travelling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
