Two giants of the international cricket scene, India and Australia, square off in one of the most highly anticipated cricket series of all time, as Team India is touring Australia for a blockbuster series which will go on till January 2021.
With the world suffering from a terrible pandemic, sports have been gravely affected in all corners of the planet, with several major international sporting events being forced to get postponed or cancelled. Along with the 2020 Olympics and the 2020 European Championships, even the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in Australia in October, had to be postponed by more than 2 years!
Cricket fans have been starved of proper international cricket this year, and hence the excitement levels are through the roof with the news that India is touring Australia and also that fans are now being allowed in the stadiums to watch the matches live, for the first time since the pandemic started.
ODI And T20 Series Schedule And Head-To-Head
India will begin this tour with a 3 match ODI series, starting on 27th November in Sydney. The squad had to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine before the series starts.
ODI 1 – 27th November 2020, 09:10 IST, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
ODI 2 – 29th November 2020, 09:10 IST, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
ODI 3 – 02nd December 2020, 09:10 IST, Manuka Oval, Canberra
These two teams have squared off a total of 140 times in One Day Internationals over the years, the maximum number of matches India has played against any opponent apart from Sri Lanka. Australia has won 78 of those matches, while India has won only 52, with 10 of them being declared as a no result. 51 of those 140 ODI’s were played in Australia, and India could win only 13 of them, while Australia has won 36 of them, 2 being declared as no result. Australia are ranked 4th in the ICC ODI rankings, while India are ranked 2.
1st T20 – 4th December 2020, 13:40 IST, Manuka Oval, Canberra
2nd T20 – 6th December 2020, 13:40 IST, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
3rd T20 – 8th December 2020, 13:40 IST, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
The 2 cricketing giants have faced off in 20 T20 international matches over the years, with India winning 11 of those matches and Australia winning only 8, with 1 match being declared as a No Result. 9 of those 20 matches were played in Australia, and India has won 5 of them, with Australia winning 3, and 1 being declared as a No Result. Australia are currently the top- ranked team in T20 Internationals, while India is ranked 3.
ODI And T20 Squads
Australia
Aaron Finch (capt), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Andrew Tye, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wicket-keeper), David Warner, Adam Zampa.
India
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.
India (T20)
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test Series Schedule And Head-To-Head
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is the name given to the test series played between Australia and India. The trophy was named after Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, both former captains as well as the highest test run-scorers of their respective nations at that time.
Before the trophy was renamed, India and Australia had faced each other in 50 test matches, with Australia winning 24 of those matches and India winning only 8, with 18 matches being drawn.
The series was then renamed and the first Border-Gavaskar trophy was played in October 1996, with India winning the sole test match. India went on to have a better head-to-head record once the trophy was renamed, with 20 wins in 48 tests, with Australia winning 18 tests and the rest 10 being draws.
The highest run-scorer in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is former Indian Opener Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 3262 runs and the highest wicket-taker is former Indian leggie Anil Kumble with a staggering 111 wickets.
1st Border-Gavaskar Test – 17-21 December 2020, 09:30 IST, Adelaide Oval
2nd Border-Gavaskar Test – 26-30 December 2020, 09:30 IST, Melbourne Cricket Ground
3rd Border-Gavaskar Test – 7-11 January 2020, 09:30 IST, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
4th Border-Gavaskar Test – 15-19 January 2020, 09:30 IST, The Gabba, Brisbane
Test Squads
India
Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj
Australia
Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj.
Players To Watch Out For
Many heavyweights of international cricket have been included in the squads of both these teams for this tour. Indian and Australian cricketers were in sublime form in the recently concluded IPL, and many eyes would be on them to see if they can carry that over to this series.
The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul were the top scorers of the IPL, while David Warner again crossed the 500 run-mark to prove that he is the best foreign player in the IPL. Jasprit Bumrah, Shami and Pat Cummins were in lethal form and will be expected to dominate the bowling attack in this tour as well, along with Mitchell Starc, who missed the IPL.
Based on their brilliant IPL form, Mayank Agarwal, Shubhman Gill, Mohd Siraj and Natarajan have been called up by the national team for this tour, and all eyes would be on them to identify the next big Indian star.
All eyes would also be on probably the highest-profile individual clash in test cricket right now – Virat Kohli Vs Steve Smith. The mercurial legends have dominated test cricket in recent years, and are arguably the two best test batsmen of their generation, and it will be another huge platform for both of them to prove which one is the undisputed king.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will take on Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to decide which pace duo is more influential in this tour.
