India's Test Titans Aim to Conquer Australia Again in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT)
India’s test titans will lock their horns against Australia to again win the Border Gavaskar Trophy. What is to be seen is whether India’s test titans continue their winning streak, or if the Aussies will take away that streak.
The Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) is going to take place from 22 November 2024 to 7 January 2025. The first-ever five-match Test series will be held across Australia. Big names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill from India and Pat Cummins, Travis Head, etc from Australia are going to play against each other.
It is also to be mentioned, that India will have to win at least four out of the five test matches to win a direct entry to the World Test Championship finals, which is scheduled for June 2025.
Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Full Match Schedule
Below is the detailed schedule of the Border Gavaskar Trophy match dates, venues, and timings of the series:
Why does India need to conquer the Border Gavaskar Trophy?
Test | Venue | Dates | Local Time | GMT |
First Test | Perth Stadium, Perth | Nov 22-26, 2024 | 10:20 am – 5:20 pm | 2:20 am – 9:20 am |
Second Test | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | Dec 6-10, 2024 | 2:30 pm – 10:00 pm | 4:00 am – 11:30 am |
Third Test | Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane | Dec 14-18, 2024 | 10:20 am – 5:20 pm | 12:20 am – 7:20 am |
Fourth Test | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne | Dec 26-30, 2024 | 10:30 am – 5:30 pm | 11:30 am – 6:30 am |
Fifth Test | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | Jan 3-7, 2025 | 10:30 am – 5:30 pm | 11:30 am – 6:30 am |
Apart from naming themselves the winner of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, India will need to conquer four matches out of five to be in the race for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final. These teams in the series are playing to clinch the percentage points on the WTC leaderboard.
- India needs to secure at least a 4-0 series victory to guarantee their final spot in WTC.
- Australia must win five of their remaining seven tests, including this series to book their seats to the WTC finals.
The qualification for the WTC final is based on percentage points. Before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia is leading with 62.50%, while India is at 58.33%. Other teams like Sri Lanka (55,56%), New Zealand (54.55%), and South Africa (54.17%) are all in the race to the finals and top five positions with more test series before June 2025.
The Rivalry of Ages
Since the initial games of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 1996-97, India and Australia have locked horns and are set to challenge once again. In total, both the teams have played in this series 16 times and India has won the series 10 times, making the series important for India to yeti again claim to their name. Here are the results of the last five years series –
Year | Host | Results of Four Match Test Series |
2022-23 | India | India won 2-1 |
2020-21 | Australia | India won 2-1 |
2018-19 | Australia | India won 2-1 |
2016-17 | India | India won 2-1 |
2014-15 | Australia | Australia won 2-0 |
Players List of Both India and Australia
Here is a list of players who are going to face each other in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test Match Series:
Squads for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy:
India's Squad (Full Series) | Australia's Squad (First Test) |
Rohit Sharma (captain) | Pat Cummins (captain) |
Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain) | Usman Khawaja |
Yashasvi Jaiswal | Nathan McSweeney |
Abhimanyu Easwaran | Marnus Labuschagne |
Shubman Gill | Steve Smith |
Virat Kohli | Travis Head |
KL Rahul | Alex Carey (wicketkeeper) |
Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper) | Mitchell Marsh |
Sarfaraz Khan | Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper) |
Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper) | Josh Hazlewood |
Ravichandran Ashwin | Mitchell Starc |
Ravindra Jadeja | Nathan Lyon |
Mohammad Siraj | Scott Boland |
Akash Deep | |
Prasidh Krishna | |
Harshit Rana | |
Nitish Kumar Reddy | |
Washington Sundar |
Debut Players in both Squads
The match will also witness the debut of some players in the international fields:
India's Squad (Full Series) | Australia's Squad (First Test) |
Abhimanyu Easwaran | Josh Inglis |
Harshit Rana | Nathan McSweeney |
Nitish Kumar Reddy |
Conclusion
The Border Gavaskar Trophy is going to be a thrilling match for the people who enjoy cricket as the greatest talents of the era are going to come together. With WTC qualification stakes in hand, India is again aiming to conquer a win against Australia. With both sides, having a strong squad, the match is going to be interesting, and Indian fans will be sitting on the edge of their chair to cheer for India’s titans.
Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma who is the captain and is unavailable for the first match although because of personal reasons, and Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain) under whose leadership, India is going to play its first test match this time, will be a spectacle to watch.
