Ahead of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 on November 22 at Perth, the Australian media is going all guns blazing in a bid to hype the excitement for the bilateral battle between India and Australia. An Australian daily, The Daily Telegraph recently published a front page article on the upcoming series. With a big photograph of former India captain Virat Kohli, the article was headlined as “Yugo ki ladai” which translates to “Fight for the ages”.
Former India coach and commentator Ravi Shastri has shared a screenshot of the article, through his Instagram story. Sharing the newspaper article, Shastri called it a proud and inspiring moment for every Indian. He wrote, “Thunder Down Under! Front and back page coverage in one of Australia’s biggest newspapers – what a proud moment for every Indian. Indian languages taking centre stage on a global platform is truly inspiring.”
Meanwhile, after the birth of his son recently, India captain Rohit Sharma is set to miss the first Test of the five-match series. In Rohit’s absence, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will marshall the troops. The visitors will also be without the services of star batter Shubman Gill who suffered a fractured thumb recently.
The upcoming series holds tremendous importance for both teams as the series result will play a massive role in qualification for the ICC World Test Championship 2023-2025 final. Indian cricket team will draw huge inspiration from the fact that they have been the winners of the last four editions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, two of which took place on Australian soil.
In the standings for the ICC World Test Championship 2023-2025, India are currently at the second spot with eight wins, five losses and one draw in 14 Test matches. Interestingly, the top spot is occupied by Australia with eight wins, three losses and one draw in 12 Test matches.