Former coach Ravi Shastri prophesized young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and star quick Jasprit Bumrah to be India's key players for the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The hype building around the BGT has been nothing short of surreal. The dwindling form of the Test heavyweights has added an additional layer of spice to the rivalry. With Perth turf expected to remain true to its nature, offering bounce and pace, batters would need to up their ante to put runs on the board.
Under such gruelling conditions, Shastri advocated for Jaiswal to shine against Australia's fierce bowling line-up. For Shastri, the southpaw's back-to-back double hundreds, 209 and 214* against England in Vizag and Rajkot, reflect his hunger for scoring runs.
"Jaiswal at the top because if he gets in, he can be devastating. You know he plays spin very well, he plays at his own tempo, he's got all the shots in the book," Shastri said in the ICC Review.
"He's an entertainer, so if he gets in as we've seen in his career already, you know he has the ability to get the big scores. You don't hit two consecutive double hundreds, you know, just like that, you've got to have the hunger, you have to have the quality and the ability," Shastri noted.
The second Indian that Shastri rooted to raise the bar is Jasprit Bumrah. With a unique action to produce thunderbolts in Australia, Bumrah will lead India in designated skipper Rohit Sharma's absence.
With bowling coach Morne Morkel branded the A-lister a "natural leader," Shastri expects the "best fast bowler in the world" to make the ball talk while facing Australia's best.
"I think Jasprit, no question. Because he's the best fast bowler in the world. There's no question about that. These are the top two bowlers who are on either side. And you'd expect him at this stage of his career, where at times he makes the ball talk, to be the highest wicket-taker," he said.
Bumrah has been the standout performer for India in 2024 with his sensational blitz. Apart from spreading his prowess across all formats, Bumrah's numbers in Australia offer surety to the Indian camp about the consequences he could make Australia face.
Before stepping inside the Optus Stadium on Friday, Bumrah has made Australia face jolts with 32 Test wickets in seven matches at an average of merely 21.25 on their turf.
The first Test between India and Australia will kickstart from Friday at Perth's Optus Stadium. Both sides, placed at the top two spots of the ICC World Test Championship points tally will be aiming to make their chances for the final stronger. While India seeks to bounce back after a rare, but humiliating home setback against New Zealand, Australia would be aiming to avoid a hat-trick of series losses to India at home.
After the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne's iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series' penultimate stage. The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.
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