Mumbai, Aug 21 (IANS): Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden said this year’s five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting from November 22 in Perth, has all the makings of a great and unbelievable series.
Australia have not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in their backyard since 2014/15, as India prevailed over them in 2018/19 and 2020/21 series. For this year, the series has been expanded to five Test matches to be hosted by Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney from November 22 to January 7, 2025.
“It's going to be an unbelievable series, isn't it? Historic series, and actually not without great minds coming together to make what is a premier tournament even more special by extending it to five Test matches. I always feel like three Test matches, well two Test matches is just a horrible series.”
“Four Test matches, you ultimately have a bit of cricket, but there's always that swinging boat. Whereas five Test matches, you've got a chance to win, you also get a chance to lose, and then you've got a chance to come back and win. So it gives the whole concept of a drawn Test match series not so much of a chance to breathe. So I love it, it's going to be a great series,” said Hayden to reporters on the sidelines of CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai.
It will be the first Test series between India and Australia to have five matches since 1992. “Look, I was seeing a reel from Ravi Shastri today on Instagram, and he was saying the Aussies hadn't had the Boarder-Gavaskar trophy in their hands for almost a decade. Well, that's a fighting word straight away.”
“We haven't had it in our hands for two series in Australia, which is kind of the coveted grounds, not dissimilar to the Steve Waugh era here in 2001, where this was the hallowed turf, this was the place where Australia really wanted to come and win, and his great era didn't do it.”
“So there's always, and this is why I think it's such a special series, there's always this fantastic opportunity for the number one and number two side on the World Test Championship table to go head-to-head, especially abroad, in each other's camps, and see who really has those kind of final rights to claim not only the possibility of playing the Test Championship, but also who's the very best of the best, which you judge on how you tour, not so much how you play at home,” elaborated Hayden.
The build-up to the prestigious clash will see India play five Tests at home against Bangladesh and New Zealand, while the India ‘A’ team is also slated to play two four-day matches in Mackay and Brisbane before the all-important series begins. Australia, on the other hand, will be prioritising playing first-class matches via the Sheffield Shield.
“Obviously, India will be playing some more Test cricket, but not much, and Australia, definitely none. They will play a couple of first-class games. Luckily, our first-class cricket, Sheffield Shield cricket, is very competitive, and I'm sure that our guys will have looked forward to two things.”
“They had a pre-season and a bit of a break, because mentally, Test match cricket is a whole lot more demanding. Sometimes the fresher the athlete, the better. A good example of that is someone like Travis Head, who hadn't hit a ball ahead of that Test championship, post the IPL, and yet came out and did what he did that day at The Oval (make 163 in first innings).”
Hayden signed off by expecting talismanic batters Steve Smith and Virat Kohli to play big roles in the series with the bat for their respective teams. “So mental fatigue can play a big role in the modern player, and freshness can sometimes be the best. But having said that, cricket is also a game of momentum.”
“I'm sure those two players that you mentioned, coming now to the latter pages of their cricketing career, they will be very keen to dominate the landscape through the summer. That's their nature - they do it in very different ways, very different styles. But certainly, they really are the keys to the Australian summer.”