The only encounter to match the Ashes in popularity these days would be the India-Australia Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, says Partab Ramchand. Ahead of the first clash in the 2024-25 series starting at Perth on November 22, he analyses the prospects and says India will have to pull off something special to get the better of the home team
The Ashes battles have their own charm and an immense following based generally on the tradition that England-Australia contests represent the two countries having been at it for 147 years. An India-Pakistan Test series could match it in intensity and fan following but the two teams have not played a Test match now for over 17 years. Under the circumstances, the only encounter to match the Ashes in popularity these days would be the India-Australia Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Indeed in the 21st Century, it has become a marquee event especially after the memorable 2001 series in India.
There is already considerable hype surrounding the latest clash starting at Perth on November 22 and this is not unexpected. For starters, Australia and India are the two top-ranked teams at the moment. Second, they are both in the running for a place in the World Test Championship final next year. Predictably enough, the two sides have some of the best players in the world and the quality of cricket will be very high as it has almost always been in such contests.
India will be encouraged by the fact that they have won the last two series Down Under in 2018-19 and 2020-21. The second one, in fact, constitutes arguably the greatest ever triumph in the history of Indian Test cricket. The visitors overcame all sorts of hurdles and obstacles to emerge triumphant – being shot out for 36 their lowest-ever total in the first Test and going down by seven wickets and then losing their top players one by one to injuries and being forced to field a second string side in the remaining three Tests. Showing remarkable resilience even as they were confronted by a full strength Aussie side, the Indians turned the tables for a truly remarkable victory, one of the greatest ever in the annals of Test cricket
It is a nice feeling to talk about such a heady feat, but all the same, the Indians have landed in Australia on the heels of the most ignominious defeat in the history of Indian Test cricket at home – a clean sweep 3-0 loss at the hands of a none-too-strong New Zealand side. There is much talk about them shrugging off this setback as a bad dream and coming into their own against the Aussies while performing up to their reputation. But that can be easier said than done against a home team that is at full strength and brimming with confidence following a string of notable performances.
The Indians will be up against a fiery quartet of Aussie pace bowlers plying their trade on fast and bouncy tracks beginning with the fastest one at Perth. The batting will be under tremendous pressure especially after their recent repeated failures against New Zealand. Moreover, they are likely to be without the skipper Rohit Sharma for the first Test who has opted out for personal reasons. His deputy, Jasprit Bumrah, will step into his shoes as captain but who will step into his shoes as opening batsman? Shubman Gill one of the candidates has been ruled out following a fracture on his left thumb. Another candidate for the job, K.L. Rahul, was hit on the elbow by Prasidh Krishna in the intra-squad match simulation at the WACA last week. He grimaced in pain and left the crease.
Gill’s injury was while fielding in the game but most of the batsmen found it difficult to negotiate the pace and bounce and were either caught behind or at slip in the simulation game featuring the main stars out in the middle against a side filled with mostly fringe and India A players. With there being no first class game as preparation, the visitors have had to make do with simulation or net sessions.
There is also much speculation about the immediate future of both Rohit and Virat Kohli following their repeated failures against New Zealand. The captain is 37 and the former captain is 36, so they don’t have age on their side. Kohli, however, has a lot to live up to, having an excellent record in Australia. Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, he is the only Indian to get six Test hundreds in Australia and he will look forward to performing well on surfaces he has always relished and prove that he is far from finished.
India’s fast bowlers have performed admirably on helpful wickets and the pace trio will again play a key role in the five-match series, the first such opportunity for the Indians since 1991-92. Bumrah and company have it in them to match anything that the Aussie pace battery can hurtle down. The pace spearhead has an impressive record in Australia and Mohammed Siraj, too, performed admirably four years ago. The spin spearhead Ravichandran Ashwin, however, is under tremendous pressure. For one thing, his failure against New Zealand raised a lot of eyebrows given his superb record in India. Second, he has never really succeeded in Australia over four tours during which he has played ten Tests and taken 39 wickets at 42 apiece. And at 38, he does not have age on his side.
The Australians are a settled and well-balanced outfit and will clearly start favourites to win the series. Former captain Ricky Ponting has already stuck his neck out and predicted a 3-1 win for the Aussies. They certainly have the right personnel in their batting and bowling and have performed well enough of late to lead the ICC rankings. The visitors will have to pull off something special to get the better of the home team but then this is just what they did four years ago while registering one of the biggest shock results in the history of Test cricket.
(The writer is a veteran sports writer who spent his career working for The Indian Express and The Telegraph and Sportsworld. He lives in Chennai.)
from Webdoux