The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 has lived up to its billing as India and Australia head into the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with the score line reading 1-1.
India won’t have the services of their match-winning off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as the 38-year-old called time on his international career for India after the end of the third Test in Brisbane.
However, India still have their lead spin-bowling allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who is being perceived as Ashwin’s replacement.
The factor that may work in India’s favour is that the pitch at the MCG is not as quick as the one at the Gabba and deteriorates quicker which brings the spinners into play by day four.
On the other hand, one can also sense a bit of desperation in the Australian camp. The hosts axed Nathan McSweeney after he failed to register a single half-century in the first three games of the series. The selectors have instead opted to go with Sam Konstas.
Konstas, 19, has played just 11 first-class games and aggregated 718 runs at an average of 42.23. The right-handed batter has struck two hundreds and three fifties in his first-class career so far.
Team India played their first-ever Test at the MCG in January 1948 against a Donald Bradman-led Australian side. Under the leadership of Lala Amarnath, India fought as hard as they could but were comprehensively beaten at the end by 233 runs.
India’s first Test win at the MCG came in January 1978 when a Bishan Singh Bedi-led side defeated Bob Simpson’s Australia by 222 runs. India have played 14 Tests at the “G” with four wins and as many as eight losses. Two of those 14 games have ended in a draw.
India’s squad:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
