Pacy and bouncy pitches, sledges, banters and everything in between…

The most-awaited bilateral series of the year is just around the corner and this time out, the Indian cricket team will travel Down Under to square off against the Aussies in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Team India will be eager to bury the ghosts of the recently-concluded series versus New Zealand, where they lost 3-0 to concede their first-ever whitewash in a bilateral Test series on home soil. As a result, they also lost their top spot in the WTC 2023-25 standings.

…and to turn the fortunes around, the two-time WTC finalists will look up to some blast from the past where they have emerged triumphant against all odds on several occasions to leave the cricket fraternity awestruck!

The latest of those stunning victories on Australian soil came in January 2021, when India won by three wickets at The Gabba, Brisbane, pushing the home side to a first defeat at their ‘fortress’ in Tests since November 1988.

Although Team India has won each of the last four BGT series by an identical scoreline of 2-1, it will prove to be an uphill battle to extend the dominance given their worrying form in their previous bilateral Test series against the Kiwis.

WTC 2023-25 points table (as it stands)

How can Team India qualify for the WTC 2023-25 final?

The upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy would be India’s final assignment in the WTC 2023-25 cycle.

With five nations still in the fray for the top two positions, the equation is pretty straightforward for the Indian cricket team - Overcome Australia by 4-0 or 5-0 to have no dependency on the results of other teams whatsoever.

If Team India register a 4-1 win, they could still be ousted if either Sri Lanka (4 Tests), New Zealand (3 Tests) or South Africa (4 Tests) win all of their remaining matches in the ongoing cycle.

In an event where India loses more than one fixture, they will be out of contention for a spot in the final if South Africa and New Zealand win all their encounters.

What: Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25

When and where:

1st Test - Friday, November 22, 2024 (𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡 | 𝟕:𝟓𝟎 𝐀𝐌 𝐈𝐒𝐓)

2nd Test - Friday, December 6, 2024 (𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞 | 𝟗:𝟑𝟎 𝐀𝐌 𝐈𝐒𝐓)

3rd Test - Saturday, December 14, 2024 (𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐞 | 𝟓:𝟓𝟎 𝐀𝐌 𝐈𝐒𝐓)

4th Test - Thursday, December 26, 2024 (𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞 | 𝟓:𝟎𝟎 𝐀𝐌 𝐈𝐒𝐓)

5th Test - Friday, January 3, 2025 (𝐒𝐲𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐲 | 𝟓:𝟎𝟎 𝐀𝐌 𝐈𝐒𝐓)

What to look forward to: Paltan, brace yourselves for the onset of Australian summer as nothing can beat the exhilaration of witnessing the two heavyweights battle it out for the bragging rights!

Be ready to feel the heat in front of your TV screens and expect the visitors to come out all guns blazing with no room for error at the moment.

What they said:

“Jassi is a guy who immediately put his hands up and wanted the leadership role. He has been very successful in the past and he speaks well in the dressing room. He’s a guy who will lead from the front and younger guys will follow him.” – Bowling coach Morne Morkel on Jasprit Bumrah at the pre-match press conference

"We are not carrying any baggage from India. Yes, we have our learnings from the New Zealand series but those were different conditions and our results here have been different.” - Jasprit Bumrah insists the BGT is a fresh start

“I am very privileged & happy to be in this place as not many players get to captain Team India." – Jasprit Bumrah on living his childhood dream!

Australia vs India: Stat check

Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 squads

Australia (First Test only): Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), *Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, ^Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

* Jasprit Bumrah will step in as captain for the 1st Test in Rohit Sharma’s absence.

^ Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the opening Test due to a thumb injury.