🏏Australia vs India, 1st Test: Perth Stadium, Perth, Nov 22-Nov 26.🏏

🏏Australia vs India, 1st Test: Perth Stadium, Perth, Nov 22-26.🏏

India will take on Australia in the first of the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth today, November 22.

The upcoming five-Test series between the two sides has generated a lot of interest in the cricket community.

Plenty of Indian cricket fans will be ready to rework their daily schedule to accommodate a couple of hours of watching cricket early in the morning.

India are looking to complete a hat-trick of Test series wins. Until 2018, India had never won a Test series Down Under. However, they have won two on the bounce, much to the dismay of the proud Australian sides.

In fact, India have won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as many as four times in the trot.

Australia are more hopeful than ever, though. India have headed into the series on the back of a shocking home series defeat to New Zealand.

Not many expected India lost a home Test, considering their invincible run at home. However, a spirted New Zealand side comfortably outclassed them and handed them a stunning 0-3 whitewash.

Australia are looking to pounce on the wounded Indian side. Can India bounce back and continue their dream run in Australia?

With notable absentees for both teams as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill misses out for India and Cameron Green for Australia, both teams will be looking at the conditions which might aid them as the match progresses.

Weather forecast

According to AccuWeather, the weather on the day of the match is expected to be conducive for cricket with mostly sunny conditions and just 20% chance of rain. However, on the eve of the match, there are chances for spells of rain with 20% chance in the afternoon which rises to 58% late at night. Due to the overnight shower, the pitch and moisture might make it difficult for batters to navigate the swing of deliveries.

Optus Stadium Pitch Report

Traditionally the Perth pitch offers excessive bounce and cracks during the match but this time, it is expected to hold better than usual said curator Isaac McDonald, who does not expect the surface to develop “snake cracks” due to the unusual rain that has hit the venue few days before the game.

“I don’t think the weather is going to make this pitch fall apart. There’ll be some deterioration, grass will stand up during the game and offer that variable bounce but in terms of big snake WACA cracks, unfortunately I don’t think the weather is going to get us there,” the head curator said.

Team News

Australia

For all the hype around Australia’s search for a new opener, it’s quite something how stable the rest of their team has been. With Steve Smith sliding back to No 4 after four Tests, the only other change, apart from Nathan McSweeney making his Test debut. It’ll also be one of those summers where the core of the Australian team will all be over 30, with the debutant the only one in his 20s, further emphasizing the experience and stability of this Australian team.

Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India

Jasprit Bumrah was almost chuckling when he let the media know that the team management and he had decided upon a team combination a day out from the Test. Not that he was going to reveal it at the press conference. But based purely on observations from the practice sessions, it was safe to confirm that R Ashwin would be playing his 11 Test in Australia in what is his fifth tour. That leaves the intriguing possibility of Nitish Kumar Reddy coming into the side as a young all-rounder who’s largely untested across many levels. The make-up of India’s pace attack will be equally interesting with Prasidh Krishna expected to play but with some thought around Harshit Rana still being in contention.

Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, R Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammad Siraj/Harshit Rana

IT WAS interesting watching the reactions to India’s 3-0 thrashing at the hands of New Zealand in Australia. While overall, it’s safe to say the result was welcomed with glee and delight on these shores, the immediate thought then shifted to how it could impact what would happen when the same Indian team landed here. The whitewash didn’t suddenly seem as funny anymore.

For, only a few weeks prior to the Black Caps completing the clean-sweep in Mumbai, Rohit Sharma’s team was being spoken about very differently in Australia. In some circles, they were talked up as being indomitable. In others as the team to beat, with many wondering if Pat Cummins’ team would have it in them to set the record straight after 10 long years.

This was also when the home team were still unsure about who their new Test opener would be along with the duration of Cameron Green’s injury layoff and if whether David Warner was indeed serious about making a Test comeback.

So convinced were many in Australia about India’s might that even despite them losing the first Test to the Kiwis in Bengaluru, their second innings response led by Sarfaraz Khan was being highlighted as one of the main reasons for them to be feared.

It all changed very quickly though after the drubbing. And as the lengthy build-up to the highly-anticipated Border Gavaskar Trophy leads in to the start of the first Test, those concerns over how Australia might cope with India have been replaced with worries over if this Indian team has it in them to compete against the fired-up Aussies looking to regain bragging rights.

Indian cricket does seem to be in an interesting position with the prospect of transition seemingly very imminent. The last Test two tours to Australia, for the record, have been era-defying ones, firstly when they broke the draught and won for the first time ever in 2018-19 before showcasing the seemingly endless depth of Indian cricket by winning the dramatic 2020-21 series in the most unexpected of fashions. This time around, there’s more a dread of a culmination of a highly successful phase for India against their arch-rivals, alongside that of a few hall-of-fame worthy cricketers.

Australia on the other hand have everything to play for, despite a number of their own players now approaching the twilight of their own careers. But for many of them, this could also be the last chance to experience holding the prestigious Border Gavaskar Trophy aloft.

Either way, it’s not just pride at stake over the next 6 weeks. It’s legacy. It’s history.

Perth has resembled Melbourne over the last few days, with cloudy skies and intermittent showers. Australia in fact had their entire practice session washed off three days out from the opening Test. The cloud-cover has stayed throughout the week though, despite the sun breaking through a lot more on Thursday. Though curator Isaac McDonald has sounded largely confident of his ‘spicy’ surface holding up over the course of the contest, the lack of sun on it has been irksome. And that could potentially lead to the surface being a tad tacky at start but also then opening up the possibility of divots as the Test match progresses with uneven bounce becoming a factor much earlier than expected.

Speaking about his debut series in Australia, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal said, "It is my first trip to Australia. I am very excited to play here. I want to play well and do well. It is different here. The ball is different, the wicket is different. But I think we know that. I think we are ready mentally."

"I really want to be in. I want to go in. I want to see it. I want to be there. Because people, a lot of time they talk about stuff. This happened, that happened. But I want to go and face it and I want to enjoy that moment with a smile. That is all I think about. Because until you are not there, you actually do not really feel what it is. I always see it this way. And it is always an opportunity for me to go out there and learn," he added.

Rohit Sharma, the victorious skipper of India is up for a chat once again. He says that it is quite satisfying when you play like that. Adds that they know the opposition and the threat they bring. Feels that they kept doing the things they needed to do as a team. Mentions that 200 is a good score but when you are playing here with breeze being a big factor, anything can happen. Shares that they are used to conditions really well, and it was about individuals doing their job. Tells that they know the strength Kuldeep Yadav has, but need to use him when necessary. Adds that with the pitches in New York being pace-friendly, Kuldeep had to miss out but they knew he had a big role to play out here in the Caribbean. When asked about their plans for the semifinal, he replies that they don't want to do anything different and play the same way. Tells that it will be important to play freely and not think too much about the future.

The red-ball clash will be hosted at the Optus Stadium in Perth from November 22. India emerged victorious in the last four BGTs which consisted of four Tests each. This time, both teams will play five matches as part of the iconic Test series till January 7. The BGT marks a crucial assignment for India, who need a 4-1 victory in the series to reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the third consecutive time. Even three wins in five Tests may not be enough for them to qualify for the summit showdown.

India are now second in the WTC standings with a point percentage of 58.33. They suffered a huge defeat to New Zealand at home earlier this month. Rohit Sharma and Co. were unable to register a single win in the three-match Test series and it took a massive toll on their chances of reaching the WTC final. Australia currently tops the charts, having secured eight wins in 12 Tests during this Test cycle. The reigning WTC champions have not played any Test series since the 2024 T20 World Cup where they were eliminated from the Super Eight round.

IND vs AUS Toss Time:

The toss for the India vs Australia 1st Test will take place at 7:20 AM IST.

India will also have a chance to begin the series where they have an opportunity to join the elite list of teams to have won three back-to-back Test series in Australia.

With the chance of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final on the line, the result of the series will be crucial for both teams.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Australia, on the other hand, are eager to end their decade - long drought in the series, having last won the B & G Trophy IN 2014-15.