This marks the successful win of a Test series in Australia for India, and they retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This test series has been quite a scintillating watch for the fans, to say the least. The sheer range of scores, emotions, and excitements that were encompassed in this test series is mind-boggling; with every match breaking records in different ways.

A Tough Series

This was an extremely tough series for both the teams. The viewers witnessed tough fights in all the four matches. The very first match was won by Australia by eight wickets, with India slumping to 36 in the third innings.

The departure of two of its star players, Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami, had led to multiple predictions; and former English captain Michael Vaughan predicting a whitewash. Therefore, under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane were able to script a fairy tale turnaround in the second test match and won it by eight wickets.

The bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj put up brilliant performances as did Rahane, who scored a century. The third test was a draw. Australia clinched most of the sessions of the test match. But Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari put up brilliant performances to draw the test. Many appreciated their resilience and grit; especially given that both of them were injured and were ruled out of the next test.

Therefore, the Indian side lost multiple players to injuries throughout the series, including pacemen Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, allrounder Ravichandran Ashwin, and batsman Hanuma Vihari. By the last test, India was left with a relatively inexperienced squad to choose from. India had a dismal record at the Gabba. It had lost five of the six matches it had played and drawn one.

On the other hand, the hosts had an impeccable record at the Gabba. The chances were therefore tilted in favour of Australia in the fourth test match.

Turning Point

Despite its record at the Gabba. India did not lose its cool on the field to concede the test match to Australia. This probably made a huge difference. From the beginning, India was intent on playing attacking cricket. India was able to restrict Australia to 369 in the first innings.

Therefore, In the second innings, the team was able to put up a vital partnership in the sixth wicket, thanks to the performances of debutant off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar and pace bowler Shardul Thakur. Mohammad Siraj picked up a five-for 73 in the third innings and the Australian innings ended at 294.

Rishabh Pant ‘Miracle�?/h2>

In the fourth innings, India was given a target of 329 runs. Opening batsman Shubhman Gill scored a brilliant 91 while Pujara anchored the innings with a vital 56. Rahane and Sundar could not capitalise on their respective starts but did add vital runs.

Rishabh Pant saw the team through the rest of the innings, and ensured victory with his brilliant 89 off 138 balls. He brought up his half-century off 100 balls but then accelerated his innings gradually after that. Pant has been known for being a player who bats fearlessly regardless of the conditions and that was what he did in this match as well.

He fearlessly hit Lyon for sixes, took chances to strike fours off the balls of an Australian attack comprising the best bowlers of the world �?Josh Hazelwood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Cummins has a habit of bowling unplayable deliveries and Pujara had been peppered with bouncers all throughout his innings.

Despite that, Rishabh Pant stood his ground. Pujara, Agarwal, Sundar, and Thakur departed one after the other while Pant kept on playing his own game. At the end; India was left with only three wickets and a handful of runs to score with only a few overs remaining. Rishabh Pant calmly steered India to victory, hitting a four to bring up the scoring runs.

Conclusion

The fourth test match has brought an end to a well-played test match series. The series shows how test matches are still relevant and can be as exciting as any other format of the game. Therefore, with more such test matches, one can only hope for more and more exciting cricket games to be played in the future.

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Ind vs Aus Test Match Analysis

India vs Australia series are always exciting and even this has been a great one so far; with both the teams putting up memorable performances in the test matches so far. The first test match of the series was won by Australia; after a batting order collapse of India restricted its innings to 36 in the third innings. Despite many critics predicting a whitewash; India was able to stage a brave comeback in the second test and won it by eight wickets.

The third test was crucial because the team that would win it would have secured its chances of not losing the series. Australia put up great batting performances in the third test and gave a massive target to India for the fourth innings. India was placed at a precarious position after five of its wickets fell with multiple sessions remaining. However, Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari put on a memorable partnership for the fifth wicket and were able to draw the match. The fourth test is therefore going to be crucial as this would be the series decider.   

Ind vs Aus Gabba Test Record At Brisbane

A brief look at the statistics of the two teams for the Gabba test would be useful. Australia have a formidable Gabba test record. They have played a total of 55 matches at the venue; out of which they have won 33, drawn 33, tied 1 and lost 8 of the matches.

In fact, in a recent interview; Australian cricketing legend Ricky Pointing has warned India of the impeccable Gabba test record of the host side. On the other hand, India has not had a great Gabba test record. They have played a total of six Gabba tests out of which they have lost in 5; have drawn one. They had not played a Gabba test during their historic series win of 2018-19. Therefore, the chances seem to be tilting in Australia’s favour this time.

Gabba Test Team News & Playing 11

Both the teams have had stronger bowling sides. Both the Australian and the Indian bowlers have been putting up better performances than the batsmen. However, India has been having trouble from the beginning of the series regarding the injuries of its players.

After the first test match, Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami, two of its pivotal players returned home due to personal commitments and injuries respectively. Umesh Yadav, its other main pace bowler got injured and left the series after the second test match. Multiple players of the playing XI are currently injured. Ravindra Jadeja, its spinning allrounder; has sustained an injury in the last test match which has ruled him out of the rest of the series. On the other hand, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Hanuma Vihari. The three players who had put up pivotal performances in the last match have also played with injuries throughout the last test..

According to the latest news, Hanuma might not play in the fourth test while the other two players might get fit enough to play. Natarajan, a pace bowler; wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and bowler Shardul Thakur; who is also handy with the bat, might be drafted into the playing XI for the Gabba test. On the other hand, Australian opener Will Pucovski has also been ruled out for the last test after sustaining a shoulder injury. Batsman Marcus Harris will probably be accompanying David Warner to open the Australian innings for the Gabba test now. 

What To Expect?

India has not been known for having a good record in overseas tests but the last two decades, things have changed significantly. India had won the last time it had toured Australia in 2018-19 and would like to win the Gabba test and clinch this series as well.

Australia on the other hand would be keen on upholding their reputation on home soil and would thus be eager to clinch this match. Overall, the last India vs Australia match promises to be an exciting watch.  

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“Jasprit Bumrah suffered an abdominal strain while fielding in Sydney. He is going to sit out of the

As far as the test match series go, it cannot get any more dramatic than this. The ongoing Border-Gavaskar series in Australia has been quite a mixed series with a series of interesting developments on the part of both teams.

The Indian team has been plagued by a string of injuries and the departure of the specialist batsman and regular skipper Virat Kohli hasn’t been exactly eventful. However, as was witnessed in the previous tests a few select performances from Ashwin, Rahane and Jasprit Bumrah has helped solidify Team India’s performance down under. 

Brisbane Test but is expected to be available against England.�?/p>

Jasprit Bumrah has been at the forefront of the Indian bowling attack in the current series. While fielding in Sydney he had suffered a strain, scans have confirmed of the same. The Indian team did not wish to risk Bumrah playing in the Brisbane test since the injury could aggravate and thereby pose a problem for the home series against England to be played from February.

Mayank Agarwal set to replace Hanuman Vihari

Apart from this fresh development Mayank Agarwal who was set to replace Hanuman Vihari at the Brisbane test has also sustained a hairline fracture. Meanwhile, Ashwin’s valiant efforts with the bat on the final day of the third test has aggravated his back injury and chances are that even he would not recover completely before the test at Gabba.

Jasprit Bumrah injury while problematic is not extremely serious. The Indian team management can perhaps take solace from the fact that he will recover in time for the four-match test series against England. Additionally, there is also the concern of qualifying for the World Test Championship. As the BCCI source noted:

“If we take the risk of him playing at 50 percent what if the injury aggravates and he breaks down in the middle of the match and then ruled out for the better part of England series? […] England is the last series which will decide the qualification for World Test Championship final and we are in contention and would require a fit Jasprit Bumrah.”�?/p>

Shardul or Natarajan likely to replace Jasprit Bumrah

It is in this regard that replacing Bumrah has become a nightmare for the Indian team. While it will be virtually impossible to fill in Jasprit Bumrah’s shoes; Siraj, who has played just two tests would be expected to rise to the occasion and lead the bowling attack. He will be assisted by Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, and T Natarajan.

Both Thakur and T Natarajan have no significant experience playing in Australian conditions. Let alone test matches at the international level. It would therefore be interesting to see how these two can cope up with the conditions in Australia.

Conclusion

The inherent problem that the Indian team has been facing from the start of the series is the absence of a collective squad. Virat Kohli left on maternity leave; Jasprit Bumrah injured during the Sydney test; Rohit Sharma joined from the second test and the string of injuries; which have accumulated by the members of the side has left the squad extremely truncated in terms of holistic performance.

After KL Rahul’s injury, middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari has acquired a grade 2 tear. This technically leaves the Indian middle order in an extremely volatile position. Since the other possible replacements in this position would be the two openers, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw. Given that both the openers of the first test were not exactly among runs; this could be a problem for the middle order going into the Gabba Test. 

Going into Brisbane Test it would be interesting to see how Team India can tackle this problem of players. But considering the fact that their core strength has almost been depleted; they would look to stick to the basics and play four bowlers and six batsmen. The cards have been dealt and while India looks to be on the back foot at the moment; only time will tell how they come out of the Gabba Test.

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India is set to host England at home and the new strain could bring forth quite a few complications. BCCI has highlighted the issues with Cricket Australia and are working towards a solution.

India Fears Travelling To Brisbane for Gabba Test

Given the current health protocols, flights between India and Australia are still not restricted. However, this could all change with the discovery of the new strain at Brisbane. Currently, all flights between the UK and India are subject to an ample number of restrictions. Everyone travelling from the UK has to undergo a mandatory one week quarantine at an institution; even if the test is negative on arrival. This is to be followed by a further one week quarantine at home. Now, given the way the rules currently stand the Indian team might land in a spot with the current schedule.

The Indian team is set to leave Australia after the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar series on January 19th. The home series with England however, is all set to kick off from 5th February. Even conservative estimates would show for a mismatch of dates with an inadequate number of days for quarantine.

Queensland government

Adding to the problems is the strict way the Queensland government has decided to deal with the covid-19 pandemic. In keeping with the changing circumstances; the government has decided to put in place an absolute lockdown for three days in Brisbane. This could mean that the Indian team upon reaching Brisbane would be put under local government restrictions which could ideally hamper their performance on the match.

As per the existing rules of the agreement between Cricket Australia and BCCI; the players can move about within specified areas of the hotel and would not be allowed to venture out at all, save for the test match and practice. 

This request for a change of venue due to such problems had been conveyed to Cricket Australia by the BCCI. However, Cricket Australia has pointed out to the difficulties of such a request since most of the other stadiums fit for test matches have been booked by the Big Bash League. Apart from that, the exemptions required by the Indian team to travel to any other location besides the already designated Queensland would be virtually impossible given the emerging circumstances. 

In this regard, the Indian team management has suggested an alternative i.e. to stay on at Sydney. However, at the time of writing of this article, no such efforts or requests have been made to ensure that a second pitch be prepared for the test match should the plans to play at Brisbane for Gabba Test fall through.

Cricket Australia Chairman & Bcci – Urgent Talks

Given the urgency of the situation, Cricket Australia Chairman Earl Eddings is now locked in a series of conversations with BCCI supremo Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly who was recently admitted to a hospital after suffering a heart attack; has taken charge of the matter and has reportedly been in the thick of things.

There has been a lot of talk regarding the reason for India’s reluctance to fly to Brisbane; not all of them very positive. Commenting on the matter, Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young said,

“My rules are the standard rules I’ve used for sporting teams right from the start and they’ve worked very successfully for us […] So that’s what we’ll continue to do.�?/p>

Among other things, the fact that India has never won a test match at Brisbane in 33 years. He has also been brought up with former England skipper Michael Vaughan questioning whether it was Covid-19 or the pitch that India was concerned about. However, India’s reluctance found support with Ian Chappell who after undergoing a 14-day quarantine in Sydney highlighted the difficulty of being locked indoors.

Gabba Test – Final Decision

The concerned authorities are yet to come to a decision regarding whether the Gabba Test would be played at Brisbane. For his part Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane has not ruled out returning back home altogether. At the end of the day, such decisions have to discuss between the BCCI and Cricket Australia. Hopefully, the two authorities can come to an amicable decision to deal with this crisis

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ICC WTC: What Is The Status Currently?

India was initially leading the rankings, but a change in the ranking system of the ICC WTC in November has harmed India’s chances to make it to the finals as they have slid down to the second position in the rankings. This change in the ranking system was necessitated to ensure that teams do not face any disadvantage due to COVID-19 induced match cancellations.

Now, teams will gain points based on the percentage of points (POP) that they win out of the total number of points that is attributed to a series. With three continuous series wins against India, West Indies and Pakistan, New Zealand has become the world’s leading test team now.  It is being followed by Australia, India, England and South Africa in the rankings.

India In A Must Win Situation To Avoid Pressure

New Zealand’s meteoric rise has cast clouds over India’s aspirations of qualifying for the ICC WTC final. Currently, India is trailing Australia by two points in the rankings. New Zealand has 120 World test championship points, trailed by Australia at 116 points while India stands at 114 points.

Currently, India and Australia are facing each other for the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While Australia had clinched the first match; India was able to stage a turnaround in the second match and won by eight wickets. The third and ongoing match of the series is crucial as the team that will win this match shall be ensured of not losing the series. 

As Australia is better placed in the rankings now. Team India is under a lot of pressure to win the ongoing match. India has already broken its reputation of being a team that does not win in overseas conditions in the past few years, and it had won the Trophy when it had toured Australia for the last time in 2018. Therefore, India currently needs 120 more world test championship points to qualify for the ICC WTC World test championship final. Including the ongoing test, they have six more test matches left. Two of them are against Australia; including the ongoing one, and four of them are scheduled to be played at home against England.

In order to qualify for the ICC WTC final, they need to win four of the six matches. Otherwise, they have to win three and draw three of the six test matches. This means that if India wins the ongoing match and the series, the chances of them qualifying for the finals will be highly boosted.

Who will play the ICC WTC Final?

It is still quite difficult to predict who will play the ICC WTC final. West Indies and Bangladesh are at the bottom of the table; so they shall not be able to qualify for the finals. South Africa and Sri Lanka are not in contention to make it to the WTC final. With its recent drubbing in New Zealand, Pakistan is also out of contention. The top four teams �?New Zealand, Australia, India, and England now have the highest chances of qualifying. England has to win five of the remaining matches against Sri Lanka and India and draw one of them. 

India and Australia are already locking horns over the points as we speak. New Zealand, for the first time, has become the best test team in the world. Their recent performances under Kane Williamson make them a strong contender for the World Test Championship final.

Therefore, the gradual rise of New Zealand has made the contest to qualify for the ICC WTC World Test Championship final. These four cricket teams across the world now should be watched closely to understand who might stake claim to qualify for the World Test championship final.

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The series has been a huge relief for cricket fans who were starved of the sports during the global lockdown due to the pandemic. The series is being held under strict supervision and the players are living in bio-bubbles to avoid contracting the virus.

Both the teams have won one match each �?and thus the third test will be a tough fight between the two prominent cricketing rivals.

Tough Rivals

The two teams have always promised viewers good cricket on the field. The first two test matches were testimony to that. It was won by Australia, which, despite not putting up a good performance with the bat, was able to restrict India to 36 in the third innings.

Consequently, they won the match by eight wickets. There was a lot of talk about whether India would be able to bounce back in the second test match. Especially after the departures of two of its key players – it’s captain and star batsman Virat Kohli and its well-known pace bowler Mohammad Shami. Ajinkya Rahane was appointed the stand-in captain, and a host of changes were brought to the playing XI. The changes paid off well. India was able to clinch the second test match due to its excellent batting and bowling performances.

Rahane led from the front and scored an excellent century in the second innings at a time when India’s top order had failed. The bowlers, especially debutante Siraj and Bumrah put up excellent performances. They allow the Australian batsmen to restrict them to 200 in both innings. India won by eight wickets, causing a lot of excitement amongst the cricketing fraternity of the world. Many other cricketers predicted a complete whitewash after its defeat in the first match. This was because the two matches have presented two entirely different results. Therefore, both the teams have been under a lot of scrutiny from the public and the press.

Therefore, there are many expectations from the third test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Let us have a look at the important players for the third test.

Players To Watch Out For Third Test

Both the teams boast of some of the best players in the world. India has proven itself in the second test by bouncing back after the defeat in the first test. None of the Australian batsmen were able to cross the half-century mark in the second test.

Australia would be looking at boosting their batting line-up for the Third Test with the inclusion of their swashbuckling batsman who was out of the series till now due to injuries. Reports suggest that Warner might be joining the team despite not being fully fit for the third test after the repeated failures of Joe Burns, its regular opener. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, Australia’s other two-star batsmen have also been having a rather average series. They would certainly be looking to score well in this test.

Australia’s pace bowlers �?Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins have been having a fine series and one can expect more of their magic on the pitch in the third match. On the other hand, Umesh Yadav, one of the mainstays of the Indian pace bowling has been ruled out for the rest of the series due to an injury. T Natarajan is set to replace him.

Popular batsman Rohit Sharma is set to join the squad for the remaining Border-Gavaskar series. All the fans would be expecting a good knock from him as well. Ravichandran Ashwin, the premier spinner of the Indian team has been in fine form as have been its pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

What To Look Forward To?

Both the teams are evenly placed in the series now. This Third Test match will decide the chances of the teams clinching the series. Given the recent reports, there will be changes made to the squads of both teams.

The Indian team has the upper hand now, while the Australians will be looking to bounce back. The Border-Gavaskar series match surely promises a good game of cricket and a memorable watch.

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