As the Border-Gavaskar Trophy gears up for its first-ever five-match series, the stakes have never been higher. India, known for its spirited fightbacks against Australia, face a herculean task to retain the trophy and secure their place in the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) Final. (More Cricket News)
Australia, on the other hand, enter the contest as the undisputed top-ranked Test side and reigning WTC champions. Their dominance in Test cricket, highlighted by a thumping win over India in the 2023 WTC Final, has them poised for yet another major triumph. Despite India’s dominance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy over the past decade, the dynamics of this rivalry have shifted significantly.
Since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy's inception in 1996, India have been a formidable challenger to Australia’s Test dominance. India have claimed the trophy 10 times to Australia’s five, with the Aussies not tasting series victory since 2014-15. India have outclassed Australia in their last four series, including back-to-back series wins Down Under in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
To make it to the 2025 WTC Final, India need to pull off a near-impossible feat: win four of the five Test matches against the world’s best Test side. For a team struggling with form and confidence, it’s a tall order.
For Australia, the upcoming series offer a chance to break India’s streak of four consecutive Border-Gavaskar Trophy wins. While they’ve faltered in these head-to-head encounters, the Australians have dominated India on the biggest stages in 2023, winning both the WTC Final and the ICC ODI World Cup.
Here are some interesting trivia about the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
1. Started in 1996, the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy series has only one match. Sachin Tendulkar was leading India in that match and India managed to beat Australia in that Test match.
2. Nayan Mongia is the first centurion and Player of the Match in any Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The match was played at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi in 1996 and Mongia scored 152 runs in that match.
3. Only Michael Clarke has scored a triple hundred in a Border-Gavaskar Trophy match. He achieved the feat during the SCG test in 2012. He went on to score a double-century in the next match in Adelaide.
4. Former captains of their teams Sourav Ganguly and Steve Waugh hung their boots after playing a Test match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ganguly played his last Test in Nagpur during the 2008 BGT. He scored 85 in the first innings but ended his career with a duck in the second while India won the match by 172 runs. Ganguly retired with 7,212 runs in 113 Tests, which included 16 centuries. Steve Waugh, on the other hand, played his final test in BGT as well. His last Test match was the fourth Test match at SCG in 2004 where he made 40 and 80 in both innings and helped his team draw the Test.
5. Another interesting fact about the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is that it was named after two leading run-scorers in Test cricket at that time. Allan Border, who played 156 Tests, made 11,174 runs and Sunil Gavaskar made 10,122 runs in 125 Test matches.
6. India have won 10 out of 16 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. Australia have won five times whereas only one series ended in a draw. India's tour of Australia in 2003-04 ended in a 1-1 draw.
7. India have an edge over Australia in head-to-head records against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches. In 56 matches played so far, India have won 24 and Australia have won 20. 12 matches ended in draws.
8. Sachin Tendulkar has the most runs in Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches. He has made 3262 runs in 34 Test matches including nine tons and 16 half-centuries and an average of 56.
9. Steven Smith has the best batting average in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has made 1887 runs in 18 Test matches with an impressive average of 65.1. He will be leading the Australian batting order this time as well.
India Vs Australia, 1st Test Squads
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis (wk), Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland
India: Jasprit Bumrah (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
