Australia vs India: Kohli and Rohit in spotlight for Border-Gavaskar Trophy

The sight of the Sydney newspaper’s front page was enough to make one gasp aloud. Virat Kohli’s face, above folded arms, gazed back from The Daily Telegraph, the photograph taking up the entire top half of the page. A small image of Pat Cummins sat in the bottom left corner. The most arresting feature, however, was the gold headline in Hindi with an English translation underneath: Fight for the ages.

The rest of the page was split evenly between the two languages with a message from Australia’s Test captain while on the back page was an article on India’s opening batter, Yashasvi Jaiswal, in Punjabi and English.

That Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp publications across Australia ran articles so prominently in multiple languages before Friday’s first Test in Perth reflects the new magnitude of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Numerous discussions have questioned whether the BGT has eclipsed the Ashes as Test cricket’s greatest rivalry. Any conclusions are arbitrary and subjective, but India’s domination of the contest since their last series loss in 2014, including successive series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21, has guaranteed colossal international interest.

Former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist believes the game’s fascination with the BGT has been fuelled by India’s decade of success.

“It’s a huge build-up and a fantastic rivalry,” Gilchrist said. “There are a few guys in this Australian group that have never beaten India in a series. So there’s limited success for this group against India in Tests as incentive.”

India have been front and back page news in Australia as the latest Test series beckons [Photos courtesy of Melinda Farrell]

Kohli, naturally, dominates the coverage in the lead-up to the first Test at Perth Stadium, but the tone has changed. Diminished returns with the bat in recent years have raised the question of whether the end of his Test career is nigh. Former India Test cricketer Deep Dasgupta believes it may be crucial for Kohli, 36, to rediscover the mental edge that has inspired some of his greatest performances in Australia.

“Mentally, he was always up for a challenge,” Dasgupta said. If you look at Virat’s career over the years, you would say: ‘Oh, he’s so expressive,’ because, even if there is nothing, he would create something in his mind to get himself going.

“Last year hasn’t been that great for Virat. I don’t see that side. He seems a lot calmer. I wonder if that calmness has not helped his cricket. This is almost a twilight of his career, but I think Virat needs to find that anger which got him going, that space which might help him as a human being.”

Gilchrist has also noticed the change in India’s former captain and believes Australia should be wary of any attempts to get under Kohli’s skin.

“Virat’s going to be really on for it,” Gilchrist said. “It doesn’t seem to me that Virat listens to much outside noise any more. As a younger character, he used to maybe be incentivised by it a bit. He was a feisty character who would engage, would never back away, but there’s an element of calmness about him now. Whether that allows him to reach those lofty heights, only he knows. I’d be tempted not to try to poke him, just go about it quietly.”

Newcomer Nathan McSweeney walks out to bat in November’s tour match against India A at the MCG in Melbourne in preparation for the first Test [James Ross/AAP Image via AP]

India come into the series off a chastening 3-0 home defeat to New Zealand, intensifying pressure on a team that carries the burden of fervent expectations. India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, who will be absent for the first Test after the birth of his second child, is 37 while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are 38 and 35, respectively. This will almost certainly be the last time all four will play together in Australia.

“The conversation has moved rapidly in the last month and a half with the senior players,” Dasgupta said. “Before the Indian season, the talk was they [the players] will decide. They still have a few years left. The conversation has moved to ‘We need to look beyond them now’ – and the talk now is that this could well be Rohit’s last series as a captain.

“You would never question players like Rohit or Virat because they can have an off season or series here and there. But can they do it? Can they find that last spark? Yes, they can.”

Australia haven’t played a Test since March when they overcame the New Zealand team that inflicted India’s recent woes. There have also been limited red-ball opportunities at the start of the domestic season, but they are a settled, if also ageing, side. The only uncapped squad member, 23-year-old Nathan McSweeney, is the only player in Australia’s expected starting XI younger than 30.

“Steve Smith looked really switched on and comfortable in the two ODIs he played [against Pakistan this month],” Gilchrist said. “His match-up with Jasprit Bumrah will be a great battle should Bumrah get a shot at him with a newer ball. Then you move on to guys like McSweeney, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, how much they can protect that middle order from Bumrah striking early. They’ve had some tough conditions [over recent years]. Easy run-scoring has not been on offer.”

Mohammed Siraj, left, will be a key figure in India’s seam attack, upon which the series in Australia could hinge [Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Gilchrist and Dasgupta both believe the series could be decided by how the bowling attacks exploit Australian conditions. Australia’s core group of quicks – Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc – in tandem with the spin bowling of Nathan Lyon are a known and formidable force. Bumrah will be India’s spearhead as well as captain for the first Test, but – aside from the spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja – India’s fast-bowling experience in Australia is limited.

“These are pitches which should suit the Indian batters,” Dasgupta said. “You know you can hit through the line once you’re set, ball coming on to the bat, not much lateral movement. There are question marks in India [about] Shubman Gill and Jaiswal. The series against New Zealand was an absolute nightmare, which can happen, but how is the team reacting? Chopping and changing? It just seems like they’re panicking a bit, which is not a good sign. The moment the team management starts taking calls like that, it affects the players’ security, their confidence. The toughest job for the captain and the management is to make sure that everyone’s good mentally.”

Gilchrist expects the potential battle between Rishabh Pant and Lyon could be a key factor in the series, along with middle order runs for both sides. “Batting, possibly for both teams, is where it fluctuates,” Gilchrist said. “Neither team has consistently put together strong group batting performances. They’ve typically relied on one-out innings that’ve turned games when the momentum has been against them.

“Flip it the other way and look at the bowling. I sway more heavily to the Australians in that their quartet of bowlers are so consistent and familiar with the territory. India have got some wonderful weaponry in that lineup, but so much of the responsibility is going to fall on Bumrah in these conditions. I think advantage Australia in that regard.”

An Indian side that has had a prolonged period of success but is bruised by recent failure take on an Australian team hungry to regain the upper hand at home with encouraging memories of victory over India in last year’s World Cup and World Test Championship final.

Expect many more headlines in any language. A fight for the ages, indeed.