Australia vs India | 4th Test | Melbourne | Dec 26-Dec 30 | Pre-Match Discussion

[BouncerGuy]

The stage is set for an exciting showdown as Australia and India face off in the 4th Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on December 26th.

With the series currently tied at 1-1, both teams are eager to claim victory and gain the upper hand. Fans can expect a thrilling contest filled with intense competition and top-notch performances from key players on both sides.

Squads:

Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (Wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (Wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.

India’s Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (Wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammad Shami, Rishabh Pant (Wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.

 

[Kianig89]

Australia will be jolted after that bizarre 7/89..... India need to sort fitness of some players. Anybody's game it could be

 

[jnaveen1980]

Boxing day test will be a festvial for sure. 90000 people making noise. A live series. What more you could ask for. HOpe they offer a true wicket instead of some green top where match gets over in 2.5 days. Generally they make sure match goes all the way for 5 days. In 2021 India destroyed Australia by 8 wickets. Bumrah 6 wickets Ashwin 5 wickets. Siraj 5 wickets Jadeja 3 wickets . A reason why i wanted Ashwin at the G.

 

[Rajdeep]

@Devadwal - have you noticed some fans who were very active after our defeat in last game are not posting much today. And I am talking about Indian fans. Imagine the gymnastic had we lost this game.

 

[mb3407]

@Devadwal - have you noticed some fans who were very active after our defeat in last game are not posting much today. And I am talking about Indian fans. Imagine the gymnastic had we lost this game.

Doesn't change anything. Rohit n Virat are serious liabilities now.

 

[RamLakhan]

Rohit suffering a niggle and doing moral captaincy from dressing room munching on Vada Pav and Misal Pav would be the best thing before this match! He can celebrate with Gambhir (the famous follow-on avoiding moments from Gabba) on every peak moment in the match, probably Kohli will also join them after his usual getting out below 2 digit score (as we know Kohli couldn't be dropped and he is somewhat better than Rohit in terms of moral support/captaincy on the field)

 

[IAJ]

Australia must have hoped for a 3-0 lead coming to Melbourne and then Sydney, but not to be. For me, if Bumrah can keep himself fit and the senior most batsmen take som responsibility, India are favourites to take the series. Australia will also miss Hazlewood.

 

[Hellion]

Good to see an India in transition still make it to the 4th Test and the series still alive.

Certain "phasht" bowlers of other nations would've been screaming for mercy if they had to play a 4th Test in Australia and gone on strike

 

[RamLakhan]

Good to see an India in transition still make it to the 4th Test and the series still alive.

Certain "phasht" bowlers of other nations would've been screaming for mercy if they had to play a 4th Test in Australia and gone on strike

Will they even get more than 3 tests to play?

 

[SportsWarrior]

@Devadwal - have you noticed some fans who were very active after our defeat in last game are not posting much today. And I am talking about Indian fans. Imagine the gymnastic had we lost this game.

There are Indian fans and then there are “Indian” fans. Expected

 

[sweep_shot]

If rain stays away, I fully expect Aussies to go up 2-1.

 

[Vikram1989]

Any news on shami?.lets hope bumrah is fit for 2 more matches. Desperately rohit and kohli has to be knocked out for next two matches.if head can get injured why can't a heavy weight champion rohit can't get injured before a game .kohli may come good on atleast flat pitch .

Aswin's retirement came out of syllabus. I was expecting Rohit's or Kohli's retirement after every match

 

[Devadwal]

@Devadwal - have you noticed some fans who were very active after our defeat in last game are not posting much today. And I am talking about Indian fans. Imagine the gymnastic had we lost this game.

They are occasional fans who are active whenever India is losing but hiding in the cave whenever India perfoming well.

Currently their condition knowing series scoreline is 1-1 after first three toughest test .

 

[IAJ]

Good to see an India in transition still make it to the 4th Test and the series still alive.

Certain "phasht" bowlers of other nations would've been screaming for mercy if they had to play a 4th Test in Australia and gone on strike

Oh sah kadd oye, awain patta nhi kitho uth ke a jande ney fazooliat marne waste. It's not much about transition, it has been outstanding display from Bumrah and few knocks here and there. Hazlewood is out, big blow for the Aussies but they will find a way. If Bumrah was not playing this series, you would probably had 2-0 in favour of Australia by now. His figures in the very first outing, 5-30 completly changed the first Test.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Selection questions loom for Australia ahead of important Boxing Day Test

Concerns around injuries and the form of key players leave Australia selectors with calls to make ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne.

Despite a dominant display to follow up a stellar performance in Perth, inclement weather ensured that Australia ended up drawing the Brisbane Test against India, and the sides are locked at 1-1 going into the fourth Test of the series.

While there is positive development around Travis Head, whose quad concern is believed to be of a minor nature and will not hamper his participation in Melbourne, and Mitchell Marsh, who sent down a couple of overs in Brisbane to show his readiness with the ball, there are concerns regarding other players.

With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the World Test Championship 2025 final in the sights, Australia must answer some selectorial questions about their key personnel.

Australia have persisted with the opening combination of Usman Khawaja and newcomer Nathan McSweeney with Marnus Labuschagne at number three, but the trio haven’t exactly shown top form and have struggled against the new ball.

Khawaja has 63 runs at an average of 12.6, while his younger partner McSweeney is slightly better at 72 runs at 14.4. At no. 3, Labuschagne has scored 84 runs at an average of 16.4.

In the post-match presentation, Australia skipper Pat Cummins, however, expressed sympathies for the trio.

“I think the trend in world cricket pretty much all around the world is the top three is a really hard place to bat at the moment. Particularly here in Australia, the wickets are tough. I think there's little snippets that have been important.”

Looking at the positives, Cummins stressed on their gritty stay at the crease, the three have faced a cumulative of 595 deliveries in the game, which meant that they were able to see off the new ball, and allowed the Australian middle-order to make the most of the conditions.

“Again, that first innings, Trav walks in 35 overs into the game. I think that makes a big difference, the same in Adelaide.

“Obviously they would be hoping to score more runs, we'd like them to score more runs, but I think they have made some important contributions that others have benefited from.”

Cummins was referring to the fact that the likes of Travis Head (two centuries), Steve Smith (century at the Gabba), and Alex Carey (70 at the Gabba) have been able to score freely after the ball had become older.

He went on to further laud his middle-order.

“The trend is, it seems like, five, six, seven is sometimes where a bulk of the runs are scored in Test cricket all around the world.

“I spoke ahead of this summer when there was all the talk about batting orders, we didn't really want to move our five, six, seven - they've been so important to many of our wins over the last couple of years.”

Despite the skipper’s vote of confidence, it remains to be seen whether Australia go with all three for the remaining two Tests, especially given Bumrah’s form with the new ball, and Australia’s inability to take off in the first few overs, something that was almost symptomatic of their approach in the David Warner years.

Should a change be in order, the Aussies could fall back on Sam Konstas, who was initially believed to be in line for an opening role for the hosts. While his poor run into the Test series ruled him out of contention, his recent form, including a hundred against India in a tour game for the Prime Minister’s XI and subsequent scores of 88 (in Sheffield Shield) and 56 in Big Bash League make him a potential candidate for Australia.

Australia’s pacers have been at their very best in the series, leading their comeback in Adelaide, and continuing their dominant display in Brisbane. Cummins and Mitchell Starc have rattled India’s batting time and again with their discipline and pace, securing 14 scalps each over the three games.

However, fitness concerns sidelined Josh Hazlewood from the second Test and limited his participation in the third. It has been confirmed that the pacer will miss the remainder of the series.

“It's one of those [injuries] you can't really predict,” Cummins said in regard to Hazlewood. “But we value him. Unfortunately, he'll miss this series. I don't know exactly when he'll be right to go again but even in the little snippets we've seen this series it shows how much we rate him and how much of an impact he can have.”

Cummins, however, went on to add that himself and Starc were in good shape going into the next two contests.

“We are feeling really good. It was hot yesterday but we'd had about seven days off bowling after Adelaide so we were fresh, ready to go, and if anything the rain breaks helped us get little breaks yesterday.”

For the third pacer, while Australia have a ready backup in Scott Boland, who starred in Adelaide with his 5/105, the hosts will certainly be looking at other potential options who can be added to the squad to support the pace attack.

The likes of Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, and Mark Steketee become the likely options then.

Selection questions loom for Australia ahead of important Boxing Day Test

Concerns around injuries and the form of key players leave Australia selectors with calls to make ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne.

www.icc-cricket.com

 

[The Bald Eagle]

MCG is just like Lords in the cricketing world, Probably this Test would decide the fate of the whole series

 

[BDfanforever]

Very poor planning from ACB, I expected them to be much more professional. Weird rain affected match, questionable team selection, playing with 2 man attack. They absolutely deserve the humiliation.

 

[jnaveen1980]

India's selection will be straight forward

Bumrah/Siraj/Akasdeep/Jadeja/Sundar or Reddy. I would want India to niggle out Rohit and get Sundar in place of him.

 

[JaDed]

Very poor planning from ACB, I expected them to be much more professional. Weird rain affected match, questionable team selection, playing with 2 man attack. They absolutely deserve the humiliation.

What humiliation? 1-1 playing at home 2 tests to go they can easily win still.

Humiliation was 2021 losing the series decider in their fortress.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Very poor planning from ACB, I expected them to be much more professional. Weird rain affected match, questionable team selection, playing with 2 man attack. They absolutely deserve the humiliation.

What poor planning. Their planning was spot on. Their schedule was spot on. Besides Hazlewood injury is nothing to do with what he had after Perth. This is a new injury. Calf injury. The atleast had 2 bowlers. India had just 1 bowler. Other 2 were total waste.

 

[JaDed]

Bumrah needs to keep focus and go for it.
Honestly a much better test than the previous one, unfortunately Rohit and Kohli will play.

 

[BDfanforever]

What poor planning. Their planning was spot on. Their schedule was spot on. Besides Hazlewood injury is nothing to do with what he had after Perth. This is a new injury. Calf injury. The atleast had 2 bowlers. India had just 1 bowler. Other 2 were total waste.

I hope rain doesnt affect the next match. Last match had the most bizzare rain I have seen with constant on and off the field usually it rains the whole day or it doesnt.

 

[rpant_gabba]

I hope rain doesnt affect the next match. Last match had the most bizzare rain I have seen with constant on and off the field usually it rains the whole day or it doesnt.

way to avoid the brutal rebuttal of your points

 

[Hellion]

Oh sah kadd oye, awain patta nhi kitho uth ke a jande ney fazooliat marne waste. It's not much about transition, it has been outstanding display from Bumrah and few knocks here and there. Hazlewood is out, big blow for the Aussies but they will find a way. If Bumrah was not playing this series, you would probably had 2-0 in favour of Australia by now. His figures in the very first outing, 5-30 completly changed the first Test.

If my aunt were my uncle .... It clearly is a transition. Ashwin just retired today and Rohit is also close to retirement.

But I like your attempt at revisionism .

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

If rain stays away, I fully expect Aussies to go up 2-1.

Nothing you have expected has happened so I hope you are right for once.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Australia need to bring in Inglis, kick out Khawaja and Mcsweeney. And should do some mental therapy of Marsh who has gone shell locked and missing.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Australia need to bring in Inglis, kick out Khawaja and Mcsweeney. And should do some mental therapy of Marsh who has gone shell locked and missing.

Mcsweeney is a perfect candidate to to join Pakistan team... seems like a genuine parchi without any talent

 

[jnaveen1980]

Mcsweeney is a perfect candidate to to join Pakistan team... seems like a genuine parchi without any talent

He was okay in A games. But he was up against Bumrah in these conditions where new ball does a lot.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Unbelievable

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has a higher Test batting average in SENA countries than the current top three Indian batters!

 

[jnaveen1980]

Unbelievable

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has a higher Test batting average in SENA countries than the current top three Indian batters!
View attachment 148754

You cannot include Jaiswal in that list. That guy has barely started. Atleast he scored a match winning century in his brief career overseas that too at perth.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Cummins tries to convince everyone that second innings collapse was all part of the plan to score quick runs. If they really wanted that they would not have sent Khawaja and McSweeney. They got bullied upfront. In order to save their face they started throwing the bat around lost a few wickets and trying to pass it as an attempt to set a target for India lol Nice Try CUmmins.

 

[Vikram1989]

Cummins tries to convince everyone that second innings collapse was all part of the plan to score quick runs. If they really wanted that they would not have sent Khawaja and McSweeney. They got bullied upfront. In order to save their face they started throwing the bat around lost a few wickets and trying to pass it as an attempt to set a target for India lol Nice Try CUmmins.

I think they got cold feet after 3 wickets. As there was no chance of result , they changed entire plan .

 

[deltexas]

Ind got a got out of jail card in Brisbane. Great chance to to go 2-1 and even 3-1. Hope the senior leeches kohli rohit play 1 or 2 good knocks from muscle memory. Because unfortunately no matter what they will not be dropped come what may. That's just the reality.

Jaiswal is due a big knock now as is Gill. Maybe they should promote nitish reddy and drop kohli down the order. If ind wins or draws this series- a few aussie careers will be done like khwaja, maybe labu & marsh .

 

[Cricket Warrior]

He was okay in A games. But he was up against Bumrah in these conditions where new ball does a lot.

Honestly speaking his defensive technique is horrible with such technique he can't even play against Nepali bowlers.

He might be good in ODI cricket but Test cricket seems out of his reach.

 

[Buffet]

Cummins tries to convince everyone that second innings collapse was all part of the plan to score quick runs.

He is fooling no one.

Aus was 33/5 in 11 overs with batsmen with scores like,

4(24)
2(13)


After top order was blown, Head and cummins got out playing shots.

Top order got out with regular style and not while playing some big shots. Getting bowled while defending, Smith glancing to leg side and getting caught as usual, caught behind while cutting the ball, Marsh playing like Marsh...

Head and Cummins got out while going for runs, but they came after Aus had collapsed. Batting order and approach would have been way diffrent if plan was to score 100 quick runs. No one bats with 4(24) and 2(13) if told to got for quick 100 runs.

 

[Bhaijaan]

The last time Bharat conceded a test match at MCG was in 2011-12. It is our playground with the Sanatani diaspora filling them seats up like crazy. Australian cricket team is whole heartedly welcome at the G.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Changes are necessary.

Get rid of Kohli and rohit. Ashwin is gone so bring maybe washu.

 

[Hitman]

Oh sah kadd oye, awain patta nhi kitho uth ke a jande ney fazooliat marne waste. It's not much about transition, it has been outstanding display from Bumrah and few knocks here and there. Hazlewood is out, big blow for the Aussies but they will find a way. If Bumrah was not playing this series, you would probably had 2-0 in favour of Australia by now. His figures in the very first outing, 5-30 completly changed the first Test.

Is Bumrah an Australian player?

 

[Hitman]

Changes are necessary.

Get rid of Kohli and rohit. Ashwin is gone so bring maybe washu.

Compulsory.

 

[imshally81]

2-1 for Australia on the card....

 

[imshally81]

He is fooling no one.

Aus was 33/5 in 11 overs with batsmen with scores like,

4(24)
2(13)


After top order was blown, Head and cummins got out playing shots.

Top order got out with regular style and not while playing some big shots. Getting bowled while defending, Smith glancing to leg side and getting caught as usual, caught behind while cutting the ball, Marsh playing like Marsh...

Head and Cummins got out while going for runs, but they came after Aus had collapsed. Batting order and approach would have been way diffrent if plan was to score 100 quick runs. No one bats with 4(24) and 2(13) if told to got for quick 100 runs.

still better than 36 AO

 

[Hitman]

still better than 36 AO

Who won the series?

 

[Mahee]

Cummins tries to convince everyone that second innings collapse was all part of the plan to score quick runs. If they really wanted that they would not have sent Khawaja and McSweeney. They got bullied upfront. In order to save their face they started throwing the bat around lost a few wickets and trying to pass it as an attempt to set a target for India lol Nice Try CUmmins.

that was very clever from Cummins....the first 5 wickets were are all purely bowlers' efforts, not due to playing shots

 

[followed]

I can't wait for Australia to humiliate this team.

They got saved by the rain and they were celebrating like they won the world cup.LOL.

It must be embarrassing for the so called top team.

New Zealand humiliated them in their cave not long ago and they have forgotten that embarrassment.

 

[mominsaigol]

I can't wait for Australia to humiliate clown team and clown fans.

They got saved by the rain and they were celebrating like they won the world cup.LOL.

It must be embarrassing for the so called top team.They are shameless like their fans.

New Zealand humiliated them in their cave not long ago and they have forgotten that embarrassment.

Indian team is not likeable due to loser fans and ex cricketers.

They got saved by the rain and they were celebrating like they won the world cup.LOL.

The moment yhat happened and indian posters praised it, Followed by new narratives that Bumrah is top 1 bowler of all time, and them celebrating Ashwin retirement which is literally the most coward retirement ive ever seen is the moment i lost any shred of respect for this team and the posters who supported it.

Ashwin left his team in the middle of a bgt simply because he's rubbish in aus and knew full well jadeja is now his permanent overseas replacement.

Bumrah is good, easily greatest all format bowler( odi, test, t20), but a top 1 is laughable.

And the team celebrating and indian posters acting delusional on it is the very definition of coward mentality.

Indian fans are not cricket fans.

 

[jnaveen1980]

that was very clever from Cummins....the first 5 wickets were are all purely bowlers' efforts, not due to playing shots

IT wsa just a face saving exercise lol But Australian public didn't buy it.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I can't wait for Australia to humiliate this team.

They got saved by the rain and they were celebrating like they won the world cup.LOL.

It must be embarrassing for the so called top team.

New Zealand humiliated them in their cave not long ago and they have forgotten that embarrassment.

Australia has humiliated a lot of teams at home. India is definitely not one of them. Last 6 years Australia vs each team at home

 

[adi_62941]

Too much uncertainties in cricket now a days. Seems like a bad year for home teams. Pakistan losing to Bangladesh, Australia getting thrashing from India in First test, Bangaldesh winning in WI, India getting historic whitewash against Newzealand at home as well as losing to Srilanka in Srilanka.
India have a big chance to win test series in australia once again.

 

[Hitman]

Cricket is a funny game. From India won't save the game if rain doesn't help them, to India might have won if rain didn't interrupt. And those were my opinion.

 

[Azaad]

I can't wait for Australia to humiliate this team.

They got saved by the rain and they were celebrating like they won the world cup.LOL.

It must be embarrassing for the so called top team.

New Zealand humiliated them in their cave not long ago and they have forgotten that embarrassment.

Have some shame man! This is the same place where we've never even drawn matches (let alone win), and no other teams are able to do it neither. I'd take a 3-1 'humiliation' from the hands of the Aussies anytime when Pak visits them next

 

[Azaad]

They got saved by the rain and they were celebrating like they won the world cup.LOL.

The moment yhat happened and indian posters praised it, Followed by new narratives that Bumrah is top 1 bowler of all time, and them celebrating Ashwin retirement which is literally the most coward retirement ive ever seen is the moment i lost any shred of respect for this team and the posters who supported it.

Ashwin left his team in the middle of a bgt simply because he's rubbish in aus and knew full well jadeja is now his permanent overseas replacement.

Bumrah is good, easily greatest all format bowler( odi, test, t20), but a top 1 is laughable.

And the team celebrating and indian posters acting delusional on it is the very definition of coward mentality.

Indian fans are not cricket fans.

Aussie and the Indian cricket team are very closely matched in all formats of cricket. There would be matches when one team dominates the other, and in the next match a complete turnaround might happen. For a long series such as this one, a drawn test in which a team was utterly dominated is almost as good as a victory as it keeps them still in the series with 2 to play. Celebrations were definitely in order (absolutely nothing cowardly about them) and the extent of those celebrations were probably because it was most unexpected to have the number 10 & 11 bail them out

 

[mominsaigol]

Aussie and the Indian cricket team are very closely matched in all formats of cricket. There would be matches when one team dominates the other, and in the next match a complete turnaround might happen. For a long series such as this one, a drawn test in which a team was utterly dominated is almost as good as a victory as it keeps them still in the series with 2 to play. Celebrations were definitely in order (absolutely nothing cowardly about them) and the extent of those celebrations were probably because it was most unexpected to have the number 10 & 11 bail them out

Celebrate all you want.

 

[followed]

Have some shame man! This is the same place where we've never even drawn matches (let alone win), and no other teams are able to do it neither. I'd take a 3-1 'humiliation' from the hands of the Aussies anytime when Pak visits them next

You must have celebrated that follow on like you won the world cup. LOL.

 

[Varun]

You must have celebrated that follow on like you won the world cup. LOL.

We haven't followed in in any test since 2011.

 

[kron]

Celebrate all you want.

But seriously what meek losers kohli and rohit are

Even kl rahul is out performing these geriatric clowns that csnt be dropped. They have too much star power.

Lmao at the way those clowns were jumping so frentically. Celebrating not following on hahaga lmao.

And the t20 wc cringe celebration after. India casual fans in India are dumb as bricks.

Tests is the real format.

 

[shariqnoor]

If India bowls first, Australia may very well lose the Test. Melbourne has been a bowl first venue for quite a while now.

 

[Buffet]

no other teams are able to do it neither.

Since 2018,

Aus against all teams at home( except India) W/L = 20

Aus has a very dominating record at home. Aus and Ind are well matched teams in the last 10 years. Yes, India won all series so far, but serieses were not one sided. Both had ATG bowlers and some fantstic batting in each series. Same trend in this series as well. We have seen 5 tons so far and at same time Gun spells from bowlers as well.

The top 2 test teams going toe to toe and producing cracking so many series, home and away both, can't beat that.

This one should have been 2-1 for Aus but rain came. But if you can't win series with 4 tests at home then you can't complain.

 

[Devadwal]

AUSTRALIA'S SQUAD FOR THE 4TH AND 5TH TEST VS INDIA:

Cummins (C), Abbott, Boland, Carey, Head, Inglis, Khawaja, Konstas, Labuschagne, Lyon, Marsh, Jhye, Smith, Starc and Webster.

So Konstas is opening in the remaining test. Another free wicket for bumrah as konstas has problems with incoming delivery which is stock ball of bumrah .

 

[Justcrazy]

To be honest Aussies batters have also struggled , it all depends which side gives up first.

 

[Devadwal]

To be honest Aussies batters have also struggled , it all depends which side gives up first.

And that's too when Bumrah hasn't supported by others indian bowlers .

I hope Siraj/ Akashdeep/ Jadeja / Rana perform better in remaining tests so Bumrah can use in shorts spell to remain fully fit for all the five test .

 

[BouncerGuy]

Please stay on topic and talk about Australia vs India game only..

 

[saimayubera]

You must have celebrated that follow on like you won the world cup. LOL.

We did win the world cup though this year.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Please stay on topic and talk about Australia vs India game only..

Please stay on topic. Don't bring irrelevant stuff here

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Who would be India's rahane this time?

 

[Bewal Express]

Aus have missed their chance. This Aussie batting is as weak it has been for decades with only Travis being World class. The other guys are barely FC. The Inds have their own problems but it's more of an attitude problem than a lack of talent. Ind batsman strength has always been their technique and intelligence but both are missing in a desperate attempt to play Bazball and its led to humiliation at home.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Aus have missed their chance. This Aussie batting is as weak it has been for decades with only Travis being World class. The other guys are barely FC. The Inds have their own problems but it's more of an attitude problem than a lack of talent. Ind batsman strength has always been their technique and intelligence but both are missing in a desperate attempt to play Bazball and its led to humiliation at home.

If Indians play with patience they can put Aussies in trouble...if Australia take India as some England squad in Australia then things would have been a lot easier for them.

 

[aboveandbeyond]

For me Hayden is Spot on. The drop in wickets have taken Australians home advantage right away from them.

Australia's home advantage ‘has been taken away quite a lot’, says Hayden as Border-Gavaskar series nears

Former batting great Matthew Hayden feels neither of the two teams – Australia nor India, are outright favourites in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series. Though his ex-teammate and captain Ricky Ponting predicted the hosts would win the series 3-1 this time, ending their dry run against India in...

www.wionews.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Speaking in the latest episode of The ICC Review, former India head coach Ravi Shastri felt that India now find themselves in a strong position.

“They’ve been kept in this series single-handedly by Jasprit Bumrah, If the big boys wake up and step up to the plate, which I just get the gut feeling they will, then Australia has a problem on their hands."

“Yeah, they got out of jail, but they are not on bail. They are free birds in Melbourne. They can do what they want and come and attack Australia on Boxing Day,"

“Massive. They would give anything for a 1-1 result,"

“The first Test is in Perth, the second Test is a day-nighter in Adelaide, and then the third Test in Brisbane. Any overseas team will, you know, settle for a 1-1 score because come Melbourne, come Sydney, I think India will be powerful."

 

[JaDed]

still better than 36 AO

True.. but nothing better than 2-1 series decider winner at Gabba the fortress with Indian C bowlers.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Who would be India's rahane this time?

Rahane will be missed at the MCG.

 

[jnaveen1980]

MCG is where the rivalry between Kohli vs MItchell Johnson started. This was right after famous 2014 Mitchell johnson series where he bullied POMS. First Mitch Johnson pinged Kohli on his head. But that was not the source of controversy. Later when he tried to attemp a run out at striker end he got Kohli on his back. That sparked the fiery contest between the two. There was no love lost between them.

Mitch vs Kohli confronation.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

in Melbourne i have noticed always Asian teams domainate si i think India would have an upper hand their if they somehow dont find way to collapse.

 

[jnaveen1980]

in Melbourne i have noticed always Asian teams domainate si i think India would have an upper hand their if they somehow dont find way to collapse.

Ya. Azhar Ali made 205 there. But the response from Australia was so big that they ended up winning by an innings.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Not sure what is the use of soo many days in between 2 games... Why???

 

[Mrjungshook]

Not sure what is the use of soo many days in between 2 games... Why???

To give fair amount of rest to bowlers. Australia don't have good bowlers right now. So injury to anyone will massively effect their winning chances.
From India's perspective Bumrah is getting good rest and will be fully fresh in 4th test Virat Rohit will get some time with their partners sorry I mean in net practice.

 

[pratiktc]

Feeling bad for McSweeney.

They gave him difficult role on difficult pitches and he did as well as senior opener and now the new youngster will get to play one game at SCG which is best batting wicket

 

[Devadwal]

Not sure what is the use of soo many days in between 2 games... Why???

Boxing day test is always start on 26 December .

Gap between 2nd and 3rd test was just 3 days.

 

[Hellion]

Unbelievable

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has a higher Test batting average in SENA countries than the current top three Indian batters!
View attachment 148754

It's unbelievable only because it's an inherently dumb comparison.

Batting in the Top 3 is very tough in SENA conditions.

For example, he averages more than current all Pakistani batters in the Top 3 in SENA too

 

[FearlessRoar]

Performance of the Indian top order in the ongoing BGT 2024-25

 

[kron]

Performance of the Indian top order in the ongoing BGT 2024-25

Shocking stuff tbh. When will they drop the 'model' Gill?

Kohli is like untouchable.

Rohit is captain and is very lucky.

But Gill is expendable. Doesn't add much.

Also sirah despite averaging 23 I don't think is all that great. He needs to be dropped too.