Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Mahela Jayawardene predicts Australia to win tough series in India

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene predicts an exciting Test series between India and Australia but believes the Pat Cummins-led team will win the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which begins on February 9 in Nagpur.

Australia has not won a Test series against India since 2015. India has dominated the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the past eight years, winning both at home and away. The last time Australia visited India was in 2017. Despite crushing India in the first Test in Pune, they were defeated 2-1 in the series. The Australians were a deadly foe back then. In fact, Australia has only won a Test series in India twice, in 1969 and 2004.

Australia and India not only dominate the ICC Men’s Test Rankings, but they also lead the ICC World Test Championship standings and are favourites to win the final in June.

“I think it’s always going to be a great series. I think Indian conditions and how the Australian batsmen tackle that, they do have a really good bowling unit and how do the Indian batsmen tackle that … it depends on how each team starts the series and who’s got that momentum. But it will be fascinating,” Jayawardene said in the latest edition of The ICC Review.

“He’s been very good, he’s technically very sound and he’s a good player of pace,” Jayawardene said of Gill. “That’ll keep him in good stead against that Australian attack, but it’s always going to be tough and it will be a very good series.

“He is in great form at the moment and if he converts that into red-ball cricket and have that tempo, maturity, understanding of the situations and conditions, he’d be a great asset at the top of the line-up for India. He does give them those good starts at a good tempo to put opposition bowling attacks under pressure.

While the Indian team is currently practising at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur, the Australians are in Bengaluru for a pre-series camp before heading to Nagpur for the first Test. Previously, the Australian team management decided not to play the tour game before of the marquee series, stating that the wickets available during practise matches are different from those used during Tests, which is useless for any touring side. As a result, they decided to hold a two-day training camp in Sydney, where they practised on used pitches.

While Nagpur will host the first Test, the next three will be held at Delhi, Dharamsala, and Ahmadabad.