Suspense Crime Sach Ka Dam
IND vs AUS: Team India has won, Border-Gavaskar Trophy will go to Gavaskar’s country… It has been almost four years since we heard this line. Team India last toured Australia in the year 2020-21. Where they defeated Australia 2-1 in the series and Team India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy title. This was the second time when the Indian team went to Australia and defeated the Kangaroo team in the Test series. This time too the fans are expecting some similar miracle from Team India. Although this time Team India is looking quite weak, despite having a weak team in Australia, Team India performed brilliantly last time.
The biggest problem for Team India on the Australia tour will be their batting. Especially the continuous flop of the openers. Recently, Team India had to face a crushing defeat in the Test series played against New Zealand. The poor performance of the openers has been a big reason behind this. This time on the Australia tour, the Indian team does not have any opener who can be completely trusted. Every opener is lacking in some way or the other. This has become the biggest tension for Team India. The openers have the responsibility of giving a good start. In such a situation, they need to do well.
India has 5 openers
Team India has five openers on the Australia tour. Who can open for Team India? In this, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be the main openers for the Indian team. Apart from this, Abhimanyu Easwaran has been included in the team as a backup opener. The team also includes KL Rahul and Shubman Gill. Who has opened for Team India on many occasions? In such a situation, there are a total of five openers whom Team India can use. However, all the batsmen are facing some problems. Talking about Rohit Sharma, he may miss the first match of this series. Apart from this, Rohit Sharma is not in any special form. Yashasvi Jaiswal has not played a single international match in Australia yet.
Talking about the three other openers, KL Rahul has been playing the role of floater in Team India. He has also opened in Australia, but he last opened for Team India in a Test match in February 2023. Shubman Gill’s figures as an opener in Australia are quite amazing. He has scored 289 runs in 6 innings of three matches in Australia at an average of 51.80. During this, his highest score has been 91 runs. Due to his brilliant batting, Team India won the Gabba Test against Australia in the year 2021. But Gill last opened in Tests for India in June 2023. In such a situation, he can be seen playing at number three in Australia. Apart from this, Team India has also included Abhimanyu Easwaran in the squad. Who has not yet made his debut for Team India? In such a situation, the entire batch of openers is under question.
There is a risk of the year becoming like 1999
Team India also toured Australia in the year 1999-00. During this time, India played three Test matches against Australia. Where the biggest problem of the Indian team was their opening batsmen. The Indian team tried four opening batsmen during the three matches of this series and all of them failed. The list of opening batsmen included the names of MSK Prasad, VVS Laxman, Sadagopan Ramesh, and Devang Gandhi. These four batsmen performed very disappointingly while opening. In this series, India did not have any opening batsman who could be fully trusted. Due to this Team India lost this series 3-0. This time also it is the same. Where the Indian team will enter this series without any solid opener.
11 openers played in Australia in the 21st century
India has toured Australia 6 times in the 21st century for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. A total of 11 openers played for India there. Among these openers, except Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, and Shubman Gill, no one else has any special statistics. The 11 openers include Akash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Rohit Sharma.
Sehwag has been India’s best opener
Former Indian team star batsman Virender Sehwag has performed very well as an opening batsman in Australia. While opening, he has troubled the Australian bowlers a lot. Sehwag opened for the Indian team from 2003 to 2012 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Where he scored 948 runs in 20 innings of 10 matches at an average of 47.40. During this, his highest score was 195 runs. Sehwag has also scored 4 half-centuries and two centuries in Australia. His figures have been quite amazing. Apart from Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar’s figures are also quite amazing. Gavaskar opened for Team India in Tests in Australia in 11 matches from 1977 to 1986. Where he scored 920 runs in 19 innings at an average of 51.11. His highest score was 172 runs. He has also scored 5 centuries while opening in Australia. Gavaskar’s statistics stand as a testimony to why the India vs Australia Test series is known by his name.
The openers had failed in the last two tours as well
Team India’s openers had failed against Australia in Australia the last two times as well. If Shubman Gill’s statistics are set aside for a moment, no other opener had performed well in the years 2018-19 and 2020-21. Still, Team India defeated Australia 2-1 in the Test series both times. This time too, if the openers fail, then the responsibility of victory will be on other top-order batsmen and middle-order batsmen. During the year 2020-21, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant performed this responsibility very well. This time Pujara is not a part of Team India, but Pant is ready to make a splash against Australia.
