India vs Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Preview

India vs Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the tournament named after two of the most decorated cricketers from both nations, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border, is all set for a kick-off on 23rd February, 2017 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune and without any doubt, this is going to be a clash of titans.

The History

The last time Australia toured India for this tournament in 2013, the hosts whitewashed them 4-0 to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy. However, Australia answered back by defeating India 2-0 in the next edition of the tournament on Australian turf in 2014-15.

Moreover, Australia doesn’t have a good record when it comes to Test games in India, as out of the seven editions played in the sub-continent nation, India has tasted dust only once, giving the Kohli-led squad an advantage over the visitors. However, Australia too has dominated the home editions, with India losing all the five Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series on the foreign turf.

India’s Rise

Fast forward to the 2016-2017 season, India has dominated the Test format by whitewashing New Zealand, shattering England and humiliating Bangladesh. Furthermore, India is going through an unbeaten run in the last 19 Test games and the team has also won 6 consecutive series in the format.

If they remain unbeaten in the India vs Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, they will become the conqueror of the game by going past the unbeaten streak of the Australian team that was created from 2005 to 2008.

Australia’s Downfall

Australia has tasted the dust in all their previous nine Tests in the subcontinent, as after the 0-4 whitewash in India, they suffered a 0-2 hammering at the hands of Pakistan in UAE before Sri Lankan team turned the tables and sent the Aussies back with a 0-3 conquest over them. Further, they somehow managed to take the home series against South Africa to 1-2 and saved themselves from complete humiliation.

Ian Chappell, the former Australian skipper and a cricket legend, made matters worse for Steve Smith when he warned Australia of the threat posed by Virat Kohli’s top-ranked team and the lineup of accomplished spinners.

However, the visitors cannot be undermined as their batting lineup has just found the lost vigor during the 3-match test series against Pakistan. Besides David Warner, Steve Smith also needs to prove his own countrymen wrong by putting belief into his teammates.

Bowling

Coming to the Indian side, the spinners have found the perfect synchronization as from one side, Jadeja has gone from strength to strength in the last couple of years, without sacrificing his consistent accuracy. Earlier, he was just a bowler who could hold up from one end but now he varies his pace smartly, utilizing the angles and have become a genuine wicket-taking option on both flat and helping tracks.

As for Ravichandran Ashwin, is at the prime of his career and has started to experiment a lot more without worrying about the need to provide breakthroughs, thanks to Jadeja. Australia’s batsmen would find it difficult to tackle the spin duo, who complement each other magnificently.

Indian seamers too are not there to just fill the numbers anymore as the trio of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has started to exploit the pitch to the fullest. With the addition of Hardik Pandya, as an allrounder, the Indian squad is getting better and better, with deep batting and consisting bowling attack. All four seamers have found different ways to add substantial value to the team’s cause even on docile pitches, however, the Australian batsmen are known to be relentless against whimsical fast bowlers, and it will be interesting to the expected back and forth game.

The Handle Bearers

Talking about the batting line-up, the batsmen have perfected the art of piling on humongous first-innings scores and due to the long home season, they will have an upper hand over the Aussies. While Murali Vijay has found his form as the opening batsman, Virat Kohli and Wriddhiman Saha have strengthened the middle and lower order, respectfully, smashing runs all over the ground irrespective of the type of bowling attack.

Pitch-Perfect

Pitches during the recent series against England and the one-off Test against Bangladesh suited hours long batting while the spin came into the equation only during the last couple of days. India has fired on all cylinders to achieve these record-shattering totals, all thanks to the favorable tracks. However, even if a slightly different surface awaits the Aussies, their batting lineup could ride on the recently achieved form which can pace their innings appropriately.

The Defining Record (Yet To Be Achieved)

India has another slice of history up for grabs because if they win the India vs Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India will, for the first time, hold all nine Test trophies at the same time.

They had won their previous series against Sri Lanka (2-1 in 2015), South Africa (3-0 in 2015), West Indies (2-0 in 2016), New Zealand (3-0 in 2016), England (4-0 in 2016) and Bangladesh (1-0 in 2017). They had registered 1-0 and 2-0 victories in their previous series against Pakistan (2007) and Zimbabwe (2005) respectively.

The only Test playing nation left to be conquered is Australia and while Virat Kohli will be looking to achieve the first ever Grand Slam, Steve Smith is not going to leave any stone unturned for halting India’s ‘Chariot of Victory’.

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