Border-Gavaskar Trophy: India gear up for potentially make-or-break Test
Rohit Sharma’s elegance and Virat Kohli’s class will face the ultimate ‘Test’ when India take on an Australian team eager to set the record straight on a spicy Gabba track in the third game of the Border-Gavaskar series, starting Saturday.
With the series locked at 1-1, Brisbane could well decide the course of the rubber and whether Rohit’s men would continue to be the master of their fate in the ongoing World Test Championship.
For India, the biggest hope remains in Australia’s batting vulnerability which can lead to an implosion if a certain Travis Head doesn’t decide to be the marauder. Steve Smith is currently sailing in the same boat as Kohli if inconsistent batting form is taken into consideration.
In bowling, India have Jasprit Bumrah, who has made every other bowler in the series look pedestrian. He definitely needs more support at the other end but more than that, he needs runs from the likes of Rohit and Kohli as a psychological cushion while breezing in to unleash his thunderbolts.
Constant chatter
The decibel levels of “outside noise” about the duo’s waning form have been rising for a while but the two contemporary megastars will be determined to lead the way on a ground where an Indian team showed resilience like never before back in 2021.
The numbers have been unflattering for the duo and they would be the first ones to admit that stats always don’t lie. Both Rohit and Kohli would still be a handful if they are asked to manage one of the two factors — bounce or seam movement. The hosts served them a double whammy — bounce with liberal sprinkling of grass for some extra seam movement.
They have the skills but the form, at least for the time being, has deserted the duo.
India’s biggest issue has been terrible first innings batting during the past one year in both home and away fixtures with six totals of 150 or less during the period.
And Rohit and Kohli’s first innings average in the 2024-25 season reads a rather poor 6.88 and 10, respectively.
Kohli has managed to get rid of some pressure with a hundred on the eased-up Perth track. But for Rohit, a captain’s knock is needed not just to boost his confidence but also help him assert as a leader who shows the way.
Rohit is experienced enough to know that he can’t always hit his way out of trouble against world-class operators like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Rohit has been a white ball colossus all his life but if he can lead the way at Gabba, he will forever be considered cricketing royalty. But for that, he first needs to decide his batting position.
He isn’t trusting his defence enough and looks like a walking wicket if the ball darts around like it promises to at the Gabba.
Hazlewood returns for third Test
Josh Hazlewood will return to Australia’s XI for the third Test against India in Brisbane after overcoming the side strain that ruled him out of the second match in Adelaide. Captain Pat Cummins confirmed Scott Boland will make way for Hazlewood at the Gabba despite the paceman’s five-wicket return in Australia’s thumping 10-wicket win at Adelaide Oval. Hazlewood’s inclusion is the only change to the home side who will look to take a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series. The rangy pacer from rural New South Wales has struggled with an array of injuries in recent years, making selectors cautious about bringing him back too quickly. But Cummins said he had ticked all the boxes in his preparations.
