Australia vs India Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Teams, schedule, times, players

Cricket powerhouses India and Australia are acceptable to renew their fierce rivalry successful a five-match Test bid successful the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which gets nether mode successful Perth connected Friday.

Millions of fans astir the satellite are expected to travel the bid arsenic immoderate of the sport’s biggest stars, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins and Steve Smith, instrumentality to the tract for 7 and a fractional weeks of Test cricket enactment successful the Australian summer.

Here’s everything you request to cognize astir the series:

What’s the afloat lucifer docket of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy?

• First Test, Perth Stadium, Perth: November 22-26, 2024 from 10:20am (02:20 GMT) to 5:20pm (09:20 GMT)
• Second Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide: December 6-10, 2024 from 2:30pm (04:00 GMT) to 10pm (11:30 GMT)
• Third Test, Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane: December 14-18, 2024 from 10:20am (00:20 GMT) to 5:20pm (07:20 GMT)
• Fourth Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne: December 26-30, 2024 from 10:30am (11:30 GMT) to 5:30pm (18:30 GMT)
• Fifth Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney: January 3-7, 2025 from 10:30am (11:30 GMT) to 5:30pm (18:30 GMT)

What’s astatine involvement successful the India vs Australia Test series?

Apart from the tangible – a shiny aureate trophy – some teams volition beryllium warring for a spot successful the World Test Championship (WTC) last 2025.

A bid triumph for India could consolidate their Test dominance implicit their rivals, portion an Australian triumph could people a displacement successful powerfulness to the Southern Hemisphere.

Under 1 week 🤩

How excited are we for the archetypal Test of the Border-Gavaskar series? pic.twitter.com/utXnzjMoIS

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) November 15, 2024

How tin India and Australia suffice for the World Test Championship 2025 final?

The WTC leaderboard is determined by percent points and, earlier the opening match, Australia pip India by 4.2 percent points. The existent champions are connected 62.50 points, with India connected 58.33 points.

Sri Lanka (55.56), New Zealand (54.55) and South Africa (54.17) are separated by 1.39 points with each apical 5 acceptable to play astatine slightest 1 Test bid each until the WTC last successful June.

For India to suffice without depending connected the results of different series, they indispensable bushed Australia with a minimum of a 4-0 scoreline.

The hosts, meanwhile, indispensable triumph 5 of their 7 remaining Tests to seal their spot successful a 2nd consecutive WTC final. Should Australia bushed India 4-0, they would request to bushed Sri Lanka (away) 1-0.

Who are the cardinal Indian players to watch?

• Virat Kohli: Arguably India’s biggest sports prima of his generation, Kohli has historically relished the accidental to acceptable his grounds consecutive and soundlessness his critics with standout performances successful important series. The flamboyant batting large enters the bid connected the backmost of a thin spot – by his precocious standards – that has seen him people conscionable 1 period successful his past 10 Test matches. But if there’s 1 state Kohli loves touring, it’s Australia. Outside India, Kohli’s highest Test mean (54.08) and astir Test centuries (six) person travel successful Australia.
• Rohit Sharma: The Indian skipper is apt to miss the archetypal Test lucifer for idiosyncratic reasons, but Rohit volition beryllium anxious to brushwood speech his caller mediocre signifier and marque an interaction connected the bid with his power arsenic a person and quality to people speedy runs. The 37-year-old volition besides look to acceptable close his unimpressive Test grounds successful Australia, wherever helium averages 31.38 successful 7 Tests with 63 being his highest score. Should the attacking right-hand find his champion form, India volition beryllium assured of posing a stiff situation to the hosts.
• Jasprit Bumrah: India’s vice-captain, who volition pb the broadside successful the opening Test owed to Rohit’s absence, is wide regarded arsenic 1 of the starring accelerated bowlers of his generation. His gait and skills are apt to spell up a notch connected the bouncy and skiddy Australian pitches, peculiarly successful Perth, and the 30-year-old’s show volition play a cardinal relation successful India’s occurrence during the series.
• Yashasvi Jaiswal: The young opener has swiftly established himself arsenic a mainstay successful the Indian Test broadside but has yet to play a Test bid against Australia. Touted arsenic 1 of the batters to ticker successful the adjacent decennary oregon so, Jaiswal volition look to marque his people against the reigning Test champions connected this important tour.
• Sarfraz Khan: For a batter who likes to play risky, high-scoring shots and instrumentality connected accelerated bowlers, a Test bid Down Under whitethorn beryllium to beryllium a make-or-break travel for Sarfraz’s career. The 27-year-old likes putting connected large scores and astatine a precocious onslaught rate. The likes of Starc, Cummins and Hazelwood, though, volition beryllium a pugnacious situation for the Mumbai batsman.

Ravi Shastri says underestimate Virat Kohli astatine your peril 🏏

More from the #ICCReview 👉 https://t.co/stBa2VmBbo pic.twitter.com/X9kpNETd3Z

— ICC (@ICC) November 15, 2024

Who are the cardinal Australian players to watch?

• • Travis Head: A changeless thorn successful the Indian team’s side, Head’s show astatine the apical of the batting bid volition acceptable the code for the remainder of the Australian batting bid against their large rivals. The opener’s mediocre signifier whitethorn beryllium a interest for the hosts but if there’s a squad Head has enjoyed facing successful caller years, it’s India. Be it the World Test Championship last oregon the 50-over World Cup last – some successful 2023 – Head has managed to get connected apical of the Indian bowling lineups successful important games.
  • Steve Smith: Smith, on with Kohli, is among the astir highly-rated batters implicit the past decennary and a half. The erstwhile Australian skipper has not scored a Test period since June 2023 but helium loves playing against India. Smith averages 65.87, with 9 centuries, successful 19 Tests against the visitors.
  • Pat Cummins: Australia’s calm skipper is 1 of the astir lethal and close accelerated bowlers successful the world, who thrives successful location conditions. Cummins is besides an effectual lower-order batter who is susceptible of not lone scoring runs, but besides protecting the tail-end players successful pugnacious situations.
  • Mitchell Starc: The left-handed gait menace leads the hosts’ bowling attack. Starc has taken 48 wickets successful his 18 Tests against India and 35 of them person travel successful Australia. The 34-year-old’s gait and signifier could person a large relation to play successful the result of the series.
  • Nathan Lyon: Veteran off-break bowler Lyon’s wicket-taking abilities often alert nether the radar, acknowledgment to his fast-bowling teammates’ exploits. The 36-year-old has 121 Indian dismissals to his sanction successful 27 Tests astatine a bowling mean of 31.56. Lyon is among the starring wicket-takers for Australia successful caller Test matches, with 22 wickets successful 5 Tests against India since February 2023.

Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins [File: Andrew Boyers/Action Images via Reuters]

Which Indian and Australian players could marque their Test debuts?

• Abhimanyu Easawaran: India
• Harshit Rana: India
• Nitish Kumar Reddy: India
• Nathan McSweeney: Australia
• Josh Inglis: Australia

What’s the head-to-head grounds of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy?

The bilateral Test bid betwixt India and Australia person been contested nether this rubric since 1996-97, erstwhile India won the lone Test astatine location to container the trophy.

In total, the bid has been played 16 times and India person emerged victorious connected 10 occasions, with 5 bid wins going Australia’s mode and 1 drawn bid successful 2003-04.

Here’s however the past 5 bid went:

• Australia successful India (2022-23): India won the four-match bid 2-1
• India successful Australia (2020-21): India won the four-match bid 2-1
• India successful Australia (2018-19): India won the four-match bid 2-1
• Australia successful India (2016-17): India won the four-match bid 2-1
• India successful Australia (2014-15): Australia won the four-match bid 2-0

India’s Rohit Sharma receives the Border Gavaskar trophy from Sunil Gavaskar aft winning the Test bid astatine location successful 2023 [File: Amit Dave/Reuters]

Australia’s squad

For archetypal Test: Pat Cummins (captain), Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India’s squad

For the series: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar