Players to watch in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Australia has won 43 Test matches and lost 30 in head-to-head contests against India spanning 75 years and across 27 series. There were 28 draws besides the historic ‘tie’ in 1986. However, in the 12 series since 2000-01, India has won seven series and lost four, with one drawn. Here are the players to watch.

INDIA

Shubman Gill: The 23-year-old opener has done everything right to become a top-notch batsman. From his under-19 days, Gill was earmarked as one for the future. His form in recent times in which he scored his maiden Test century in Bangladesh, an ODI double-hundred, besides his maiden T20I ton is an indication that he is on his way to securing his place as a dangerous opening batsman.

Virat Kohli: The batting mainstay of the Indian team has scored seven of his 27 Test centuries against Australia. But only one has come on Indian soil, where he averages 33.00 against Australia. Kohli has not had a good run of scores in Tests in the past year, often being found out by the opposition spinners. Now is the ideal chance for Kohli to set the record straight.
Mohammed Siraj: If there is one bowler who has bowled his heart out in recent times for India, whatever be the conditions, it is the right-arm speedster from Hyderabad, Md Siraj. Since making his Test debut against Australia in the 2020 Boxing Day Test as a replacement for injured Md Shami, Siraj has only grown by leaps and bounds. In 15 Tests, he has taken 46 wickets. His ability to move the ball away from left-handers will provide testing times for the Australian top order.

R Ashwin: One shy of 450 Test wickets, Ashwin is closing in on his Australian rival Nathan Lyon, who is 11 wickets ahead of the Tamil Nadu bowler. Almost 70 percent of Ashwin’s 449 Test wickets have come in India. It will be just a matter of time before Ashwin takes 11 more wickets to join Anil Kumble as the only Indians to take 100 or more Test wickets against Australia. A shrewd thinker who plans a batsman’s dismissal with precision, he will be more than a handful for the Aussies.

Axar Patel: The Gujarat left-arm spinner’s consistency of taking five-wicket hauls in Tests has been amazing. Five five-wicket hauls in eight Tests – all in the Asian subcontinent – among a tally of 47 wickets shows he is nearly unplayable on the turning Indian pitches. He has filled in tremendously for fellow left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja’s absence due to injury. With Jadeja back in the squad, India will not hesitate in playing three spinners and choke the Aussies.

AUSTRALIA

David Warner: The aggressive left-hander may have complained of exhaustion ahead of the series but come February 9, Warner will be eager to put his best foot forward. Warner, 36, has toured India twice before for Tests in 2012-13 and 2015-16 but has not set the ground afire. Only two fifties to show in India, he will be keen to score one three-figure score, if not more, in this series.

Usman Khawaja: The left-handed batsman has not played in India except on the ‘A’ tours. The Pakistan-born 36-year-old’s last international innings was 195 not out against South Africa in Sydney earlier this year. He relishes playing in Sydney, which is known to assist spinners. Australia will rely on him to score big against the Indian spinners. Though it’s his first time to India, he has the experience of playing in Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year.

Marnus Labuschagne: On his maiden tour to India, the 28-year-old South Africa-born right-hander has been Australia’s most reliable batsman in recent years. Averaging 55.73 in 33 Tests with 10 hundreds and 14 fifties, the No. 1-ranked Test batsman loves batting, proven by the fact that five of his three-figure knocks are above 150.

Nathan Lyon: Any series involving India and Australia is incomplete without comparing the figures of the premier off spinners of the respective countries. In the seven Tests that Lyon has played in India in 2012-13 and 2016-17, he has collected 34 wickets. In those seven Tests, Ashwin had 44 wickets. This series will be Ashwin vs Lyon as much as it is Australia vs India.

Pat Cummins: The world No. 1 Test bowler has led Australia to eight Test victories and one loss, picking up 50 wickets in the 13 Tests since taking over captaincy. Cummins as Test captain is yet to lose a series. He won 1-0 in Pakistan and drew 1-1 in Sri Lanka. In the absence of ace pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the first Test, Cummins will have to shoulder more than what he can bear.