History
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 49 tests, with Australia winning 19 tests and the rest 10 being draws.
In the previous match, the home side comfortably won by 8 wickets as they were set a meagre target of 91, after India were bundled out for just 36 runs in their second innings, their lowest ever score in test cricket. The Aussie pacers were on fire as Hazelwood and Cummins shared 9 wickets between them for a memorable victory eventually.
Team News
David Warner is still nursing a groin injury that kept him out of the T20 series, and will miss this match as well. He is expected to return for the next match. Moises Henriques has been added to the squad as cover for Cameron Green, who has a few niggles. The batting will again be held together by the brilliant duo of Smith and Labuschane, while Lyon, Starc and Cummins will be the key men with the pink ball.
In the previous match, captain Tim Paine stood out in the first innings with a brilliant fighting knock of 73 runs, which may have swung the match in their favour, as Australia looked in danger to be bundled out for a very low score. Then the fast bowlers did their job as Starc, Cummins and Hazelwood absolutely rattled the Indians with their searing pace, and won the match for Australia.
The Indians have plenty of decisions to make after this extremely poor batting performance. They could only muster 280 runs in both innings combined, almost an embarrassing stat. The openers flopped in both innings and the board will be looking to make changes to ensure there won’t be a repeat of that. The bowlers did an incredible job in the first innings as they got Australia all-out for just 191, with Ashwin being the pick with 4 wickets. However, a miserable batting collapse in the second innings saw India lose this match in a very one-sided manner.
Virat Kohli will leaving the tour due to a compassionate leave, as his wife is expected to give birth soon. Mayank Agarwal will most likely open with KL Rahul, who will come in in place of the misfiring Prithvi Shaw. Youngster Shubman Gill will be given the daunting task of replacing Kohli in the middle order, while Rishabh Pant is expected to replace Saha down the order.
Betting Preview, Picks And Prediction
To Win The Match
Australia are the heavy favourites to repeat their heroics and win this match at 1.33. They have a solid squad and even without David Warner are expected to pile on a huge amount of runs, while their bowling attack is as lethal as it gets. India to win has odds of 5.50 after their disappointing defeat, and the match to end in a draw has odds of 7.50.
Top Team Batsman In The First Innings
With Kohli missing, the onus to handle the batting order falls on Cheteshwar Pujara now, and he is the favourite to be the top Indian batsman in the first innings at 3.25. He is followed by Rahane and KL Rahul, both at 5.50.
In Warner’s repeated absence, a flurry of top order batsmen have the following odds : Steve Smith is the obvious favourite to be Australia’s top batsman at 3.25. He is followed by the ever consistent Labuschane at 3.75.
Highest Opening Partnership In The First Innings
With Indian likely to include KL Rahul as an opener, the odds for them having the highest opening partnership are 2.37. While Mathew Wade didn’t have a great start, he still had a solid opening partnership with Joe Burns in the second innings, and these two have odds of 1.57 to again have the highest opening partnership.
Top Team Bowler
Pat Cummins is again the favourite to be the top bowler at 3.25, with his searing deliveries expected to make Indian batters tremble just like in the first test. Josh Hazelwood really troubled the Indian batsmen in the previous series and took 5 wickets in the second innigns of the previous match, and he is at 3.50 to be the top bowler. Lyon is 5.00 to be the top bowler.
Jasprit Bumrah leads India’s bowling contingent at 3.00, followed by the previous match’s top bowler Ravi Ashwin at 4.00.
Individual Player Betting
- Pujara to score more than 70.5 runs over both innings has odds of 1.83, which is a tempting bet as he would like to continue his current form and build on his impressive test record, which is built on consistency. Steve Smith to score less than 98.5 runs has odds of 1.83, which is again a very tempting bet as he failed to really get going in the previous match.
- Josh Hazelwood to take 5 or more wickets has odds of 2.25, which is very attractive as he averages more than that in Test cricket and took 6 wickets in the previous match as well. Bumrah to take 4 or more wickets has odds of 1.83, which is attractive as he was the leading wicket taker in the previous series between these two.
Our Top Betting Picks
- India to win the match @5.50
- India to have the Highest Opening Partnership @2.37
- Cummins to be Australia’s top bowler in the first innings @3.25
