In a country besotted with cricket, it is not uncommon to see the term ‘Indian cricket is at the crossroads’ thrown about frivolously in the media and amongst the frenzied fans.
But with a coveted dominance in Tests at home curtailed, courtesy of the Kiwis, and the heat on the Indian team at its zenith following the failure of stalwarts, the upcoming five-match series Down Under could well be an inflection point.
The Indians don’t have the most formidable record in Australia by any stretch of the imagination. With just nine wins across 52 Tests in the country, England, West Indies, and South Africa are historically well ahead in taking the fight to arguably cricket’s most unforgiving host.
However, getting down to brass tacks reveals that four of those nine wins have come in back-to-back series wins over the last six years, with the Indians showing more of a stomach for a fight, even with their backs against the wall.
The ‘Gabba Miracle’ of 2021, conjured by an injury-ridden Indian side, ended a 32-year Australian hegemony in Brisbane, emboldening even the modern-day laggard West Indies to repeat the feat last year.
Following that triumph, India dared to dream and will take a cue from it when the series opens on a bouncy track in Perth. The absence of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for the first Test, though unfortunate, will perhaps only feed into the recent template of overcoming adversity Down Under.
But one can’t sit on its laurels and hope for history to repeat itself. The Indian brigade in transition will rely on a blend of youth and experience in its quest to challenge the world Test champion.
In Rohit Sharma’s absence, Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in the first Test in Perth. | Photo Credit: AFP
Virat Kohli, India’s top run-scorer in the 2011-12 and 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Australia, is deemed vital, but without contributions from the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, and Rishabh Pant, the Indian challenge will fall flat, like it did in the series mentioned above.
The last time India toured Australia for the BGT, it showed that setting the tone isn’t the be-all and end-all in the longest format, bouncing back from the ignominy of being skittled for 36 in the first Test in Adelaide to script history.
Series Results in Current WTC Cycle:
Thus, with injury and unavailability forcing India to shuffle the batting order in Perth, the visitor would know better than to brood over the first Test’s outcome. The opening contest will provide Jaiswal with a new opening partner, which could see an under-fire KL Rahul return to the spot he has batted at for the bulk of his stop-start career, or prolific domestic run accumulator Abhimanyu Easwaran handed a debut cap despite a string of poor scores against Australia ‘A’. Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel, who scored 80 and 68 in the second game against Australia ‘A’ and showcased his affinity for playing on bouncy tracks, could fill in for Gill at No. 3.
In the face of a somewhat new-look Indian line-up, the team might, at some point in the series, rue the void left by crisis men Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who have been the architects of the last two series wins Down Under.
Pujara’s ability to get under the skin of the Aussies with his doughty spirit and Rahane’s technical genius are undoubtedly in short supply in the current setup. Jaiswal, Gill, and Sarfaraz Khan may need to curb some of their natural stroke-making instinct in challenging conditions and even put their bodies on the line.
Virat Kohli, India’s top run-scorer in the 2011-12 and 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Australia, will once again be vital. | Photo Credit: AFP
In contrast, Australia will tuck into home comforts with most of its Test mainstays still in the fray. Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne continue to be the pillars of the batting unit. David Warner’s retirement led to a mini-scramble at the top, which has since been resolved with 25-year-old Nathan McSweeney set to make his debut.
However, the Australian batters had an underwhelming series in New Zealand earlier this year, where all-rounder Cameron Green, who is ruled out of the BGT due to injury, was the top-scorer. The Indian quicks will thus have an opportunity to prey on the lingering effects of that blip.
India will take a lot of confidence from bowling linchpin Jasprit Bumrah’s exploits Down Under.
Over the last two BGT series in Australia, only Australian skipper Pat Cummins (35 in eight matches) has taken more wickets than Bumrah (32 in seven).
The Indian pacer also has the best bowling average (21.25) across the two series, among bowlers to have taken more than five wickets.
But it doesn’t work in India’s favour that its expectations with the ball have come down to the individualistic genius of Bumrah.
In the absence of the still recovering-from-injury Mohammed Shami, Bumrah has been shouldering the Indian pace bowling duties almost singlehandedly. In 2024, Bumrah has 41 wickets in nine Tests, while the next-best Indian pacer, Mohammed Siraj, tallied just 19 from the same number of matches.
Even though Akash Deep impressed in patches against England and New Zealand, the heat of the Australian challenge might be a little too much for the Bengal pacer.
This dire situation has forced the Indian management to fast-track Harshit Rana into the Test setup. The 22-year-old’s hit-the-deck style could work out on the bouncy tracks of Australia. But betting on a bowler who has played just 10 First-Class games in a high-intensity series like BGT is a decision fraught with risk.
The form of its spin-bowling all-rounders also contributes to India’s selection headache. While R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja suffered one of their worst home series performances against New Zealand, Washington Sundar enjoyed a successful reintegration into the Test fold. With Nitish Kumar Reddy in contention for the fast-bowling all-rounder spot, only one of Ashwin, Jadeja, and Washington will likely appear in Perth for the first Test. Form, experience, and match-ups will all come into play for coach Gautam Gambhir in a selection call, which could backfire quite easily.
Going into the Australian summer, the under-fire Indians, though, were gifted a brief ray of hope from an unlikely source — Pakistan. Their sub-continent rivals outmuscled the Aussies in the recent ODI series, bringing to light an underlying weakness against high-intensity pace bowling.
Australia’s only Test defeat in the last year came against West Indies at the Gabba, where a charged-up Shamar Joseph ripped through the home side with a seven-wicket haul in the fourth innings.
However, Australia bounced back from that loss by sweeping New Zealand away from home in a two-match series. Its bowling unit, led by Cummins, still retains the same personnel from the last BGT, armed with greater experience and driven by a hunger to reinstate the Aussie honour tarnished over the last two Indian visits.
In addition to pride, also at stake would be a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Anything other than a series win would severely impair India’s hopes of making a third consecutive final appearance, as the BGT is the side’s last series of the current cycle.
The likes of Steve Smith (in pic), Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon are pushing towards the wrong side of the thirties, lending this upcoming BGT even more of a context. | Photo Credit: AFP
Australia has a bit more leeway, with the side scheduled for a Sri Lanka series away from home next year.
Irrespective of which way this series swings, it will be the final BGT for many stalwarts across both teams, with the next edition slated for early 2027. For India, it is nearly certain that Test mainstays like Ashwin, Jadeja, and Rohit won’t be around by then.
The case is similar for Australia. The likes of Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Smith are pushing towards the wrong side of the thirties, lending this upcoming series even more of a context.
For the last decade or so, these two sides, powered by a generation of superstars, have engaged in some of the most combative Test series in the sport’s history. Rivalries sprung up for fun, narratives coalesced out of thin air, and battlelines were drawn. And once again, these two teams will lock horns during an Australian summer with everything at stake.
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