Sri Lanka’s legendary batsman Mahela Jayawardene feels Australia has a chance to beat India in the upcoming four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy series, which kicks off in Nagpur on Thursday. Australia and India, currently number 1 and 2 respectively in both the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings and the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023 cycle, will meet in a four-match test series in India.
India is the current holder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy having won the series held in Australia in 2020-21.
Although Australia have not won a test series in India since 2004, Jayawardena believes Pat Cummins-led Australia will break their duck at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which kicks off in Nagpur on February 9.
“I think it’s always going to be a great series. I think the Indian conditions and how the Australian batsmen handle that, they have a really good bowling unit and how do the Indian batsmen handle that … it depends on how each team starts the series and who has that momentum. But it will be fascinating,” said Mahela Jayawardene in the latest edition of the ICC Review.
“It’s hard to predict but being a Sri Lankan I hope Australia can push it to the limit. Probably a 2-1 win for Australia but it’s going to be a tough one,” he added.
Batsman Shubman Gill’s amazing recent run has increased India’s chances of a successful fight against that mighty Australian bowling outfit.
The youngster’s spectacular form in white-ball cricket has given India a significant boost in the shorter formats, and Jayawardene believes he has what it takes to make a similar impression in red-ball cricket.
“He’s been very good, he’s very healthy technically and he’s a good player with speed. That will serve him well against that Australian attack, but it’s always going to be difficult and it’s going to be a really good run,” said the Sri. Lankan said about Gill.
“He is in excellent form at the moment and if he translates that into red-ball cricket and has that pace, maturity and understanding of the situations and circumstances, he would be a great addition to the top of the line-up for India. they make those good starts at a good pace to put pressure on the opponent’s bowling attacks,” he added.
Australia’s four-match test tour of India kicks off on Thursday, with the fourth and final test scheduled for March 9.
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