As India will play the first test match against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, fans attending the match says, ‘this is going to be a monumental.’ The first India vs Australia Test of the 3-match series starts today at the Optus Stadium.
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Australia has not won the legendary Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the last 10 years. The last time Australia won a BGT was in 2014-15. Since then, India have dominated both at home and away. For a change, the BGT will be a five-Test affair for the first time this year.
A fan said, “...This is the first five-test series in 30 years, and this is going to be a monumental test series coming here in Perth. We're hoping to see a lot of our Indian fans coming here. We know that this is a test series that is becoming an iconic test series between India and Australia. It's sort of on a par between England and Australia in the Ashes. Some people say it's bigger than the Ashes. But I think if this test series goes according to plan and we have a tight test series I think this will really put it up there in competition with the Ashes.”
Another says, "...All excited, India has recently lost a master series at home. But I'm pretty confident the boys are going to come back, come back nice and strong and obviously here to see my biggest hero which is Virat Kohli and he is expected to bounce back in the series..."
"I am really excited to watch this Test match, I think Australia's got a good lineup. Hopefully, we see some good performances from them. I am also hoping to see the Indians perform."
"Very excited to see King Kohli over here, he's likely to perform well, but hopefully not for too long, we're pretty sure we're going to get him out pretty quickly, but we're really keen to come over the next Test series in India."
India faces a fresh challenge as they prepare to take on Australia in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Perth on Friday, November 20. After a disappointing 0-3 loss to New Zealand at home, India’s hopes of securing a 4-0 series win in Australia—a result critical for their qualification for next year’s World Test Championship (WTC) final—seem highly ambitious.
India's stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah affirmed that his side is not carrying "any baggage" from India of their historic whitewash against New Zealand and offered surety about the team being well equipped for the challenging conditions and series ahead of them.
"When you win, you start from zero, but when you lose, then you also start from zero. We are not carrying any baggage from India. Yes, we have our learnings from the New Zealand series, but those were different conditions, and our results here have been different," Bumrah told reporters before the opening Test on Friday.
Australia will enter the match with a full-strength squad, while India will be missing two key players, captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Rohit is currently on paternity leave but is expected to rejoin the team ahead of the second Test in Adelaide. Meanwhile, Gill sustained a thumb injury during a training session and is expected to be out of action for approximately two weeks.
A day before the opening Test, Bumrah revealed that the playing XI had been finalised but remained tight-lipped and didn't give away much about it.
"I spoke to Rohit. When I came here, the coach and management gave me the clarity that I would be leading. We have finalised it, you will come to know tomorrow (playing eleven). We are confident in each individual who is going to play," Bumrah noted.
