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AUS vs IND 2024/25, AUS vs IND 3rd test match preview

Posted on by Taylor Reeves
AUS vs IND 2024/25, AUS vs IND 3rd test match preview

Overall picture: A blast for the Christmas season

We’re back where we started the series, with two teams of both promise and lackluster squaring off once again on fabled ground. The cricket was captivating, sometimes unpredictable. There were even a bit of heated arguments between the players. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 is inching dangerously close to classic territory. Imagine the score is 2-2 to Sydney.

Some of the bowling on display – Harshit Rana taking out Travis Head’s off-stump in Perth, Pat Cummins getting revenge on Rohit Sharma in Adelaide, Jasprit Bumrah every time he runs in – was dreamy. So you can’t blame the Gabba for giving them looks. One day the playing field will still be green.

A first-innings average of 18.65 runs per wicket – a figure so rare that it has only been bettered once in the last decade, in a one-off Test between England and Ireland – not only reflects the class of the Bowlings from both teams reflect attacks, but also a little about the conditions and weakness of the batting.

Australia are bleeding in a new opener and their two most reliable run-scorers are not performing at the level they are used to. India will be able to sympathize because like Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (who could return as an opener) were more down than up. The final three are in their mid-to-late 30s, so their form will be under even more scrutiny, in addition to the surprise that these high-profile players haven’t really made an impact on this high-profile series yet. (Kohli has a century but the crucial innings there came from Yashasvi Jaiswal)

Of course, it’s no surprise that there will be surprises when these two teams go at each other. In 2017, Australia took the lead and India hit back. The same goes for 2021. In 2018 and 2023, India took the lead and Australia hit back. This shows that there is not much between these pages. Australia’s victory in Indore last year and India’s in Perth two weeks ago exceeded all expectations and there is sure to be more excitement and excitement as these two ring in the festive season.

Form Guide

Australia: WLWWL (last five completed games, most recent first)
India: LWLLL

In the spotlight

Steven Smith has 19 runs in two Tests. His last hundred was 24 innings ago. But there was a 91 not out at the Gabba, which he cited as evidence that his opening knock for Australia wasn’t actually the worst idea. Back at No. 4, he had a bit of trouble starting his innings due to heavy demand, problems he used to avoid such as reaching lbw.

Rishabh pants keeps doing Rishabh Pant stuff. In Adelaide, when India suffered three setbacks in the 15th over, he stormed out of the crease and beat Scott Boland to cover. He was also seen at Rundle Shopping Center, where he left his purchases to play peek-a-boo with a small child. Now he stands at the scene of his greatest triumph as a cricketer, after his greatest triumph as a human being.

Team News: Will Rohit move back up the rankings?

India may be considering changes, particularly in the composition of its top flight. Will Rohit come back to reopen? Does he feel like himself again? There were positive signs in the nets on Thursday where almost all batters, especially Kohli and Shubman Gill, stepped up their back-foot play.

Akash Deep was India’s third fast bowler during the home season, making way for a better batsman in Perth. The team no longer sees their depth as a major issue, so Harshit Rana could find his way back to the bench. Washington Sundar could also push R Ashwin for a place in the XI.

India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma (Captain)/ KL Rahul, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (Week), 6 KL Rahul/Rohit Sharma (Captain), 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Washington Sundar/R Ashwin, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Australia’s first-choice pace attack will reunite at the Gabba, with Josh Hazelwood returning to join Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

Australia: 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Nathan McSweeney, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Alex Carey (Week), 8 Pat Cummins (Capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions: Somewhat wet weather

Australia have lost two of their last four Tests here, having lost nothing in 32 years. There was a pattern to these two defeats, however. Both took place at the end of the season, in January. In between, there was a Test against South Africa in December 2022, which ended in two days and was a feast for the fast bowlers. And also one against England in December 2021, which ended in a nine-wicket win for Australia. Early-season cricket here is suited to fast bowlers, a likelihood increased by the rain forecast over the course of the Test.

“(Yesterday) looked like a good wicket, as it has in recent years,” Cummins said. “There has been some sun in the last few days, I don’t think it’s as green and leafy as it was against South Africa.”

Statistics and interesting facts

  • Jasprit Bumrah is averaging 11.25 runs per wicket in this series. The next best for India is Mohammed Siraj with 19.77, but then the gap widens.

  • Travis Head averages 80 and has a record 94 in the series. The next best for Australia is Alex Carey with 24 and 59.5. The hosts still have some catching up to do.

  • Pat Cummins has an outstanding record at the Gabba, taking 40 wickets in seven Tests at 18.22

  • India could have just four players from the famous 2020-21 win at the Gabba: Rohit, Gill, Pant and Siraj. There could be five if Washington plays.

    • Quotes

    “It worked in the Adelaide Test. There’s always a Plan B in mind, or if it looks really uncomfortable or is likely to require wickets, maybe it becomes a Plan A for some of the batters. I’m sure we’ll give it a try at some point in this Test.”
    Captain of Australia Pat Cummins about the use of the short ball against India’s batters

    “The mood in the team is very good. We had a team dinner yesterday, we had a lot of fun at the team dinner. I think it’s very important to know that we didn’t play well in the Test match in Adelaide.” But still, the series is one: we have a three-game series and if we win this game then we will be in Melbourne and Sydney have the upper hand in my opinion.
    Indian dough Shubman Gill

    Alagappan Muthu is an editor at ESPNcricinfo

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