Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Key stats from India vs Australia first Test

The historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins on December 17 when India will lock horns with Australia in the first of the four-Test match series at the Adelaide Oval.

There have been several developments in both the team squads since India’s 2-1 win in the T20I series. 

Opener Rohit Sharma has passed the fitness test after missing both the white-ball series and is set to join the rest of the India squad in Australia. For the hosts, pacer Mitchell Starc is roaring to make a comeback, while all-rounder Moises Henriques has been added to the squad in place of Sean Abbott.

India vs Australia head to head count in Test matches dominantly favours the latter, who have won a whopping 42 of the 98 Tests played between the teams. Furthermore, while India have been strong in the shortest format, they come into this Test series at the back of two consecutive Test defeats against New Zealand. The Aussies, on their part, have won all of their last five Tests.

So with the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy a few days away, we take a look at some crucial preemptive stats:

Cheteshwar Pujara’s early struggle

Top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara played over 1000 Test deliveries when India had toured Australia in 2018-19, which had prompted Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon to ask  him, “Aren’t you bored of batting now?”

Pujara has been one of India’s cornerstones in Test cricket and while his record in Australia is impressive, to say the least, his evident struggle against pacers early on in his innings isn’t hidden. Here is a detailed comparison of his Test innings in Australia:

Pujara has always owned the Adelaide turf. The 32-year-old has scored 288 runs at the venue, which translates to almost 40% of his total Test runs (722) in Australia. Only Nathan Lyon has managed to dismiss Pujara at the venue in the format. On the contrary, the 32-year-old has scored most of his runs (97) against the spinner itself.

Quick stat: Pujara has never been dismissed by any pacer at Adelaide.

Adelaide Oval - Winning here matters

Adelaide Oval has hosted 156 Test matches in its 136-year history. The venue has a vivid history, as it has hosted 11 first matches of the series and interestingly, the winner of that game has gone on to clinch the series.

India have played 12 Test matches at this venue, winning just twice and losing on seven occasions. Things, however, will be different on Thursday’s Day-night Test match as Australia remain the most experienced and successful team in it. They have won all of their seven Day-Night Tests matches. 

The venue, though, has been nothing but a boon for Australia as they have lost 18 Tests at Adelaide in 18 different series. Of those 18 series, they have lost 11 series, drawn three and won only four.

All eye on Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli will be playing his final game of 2020 before he travels back to India for personal reasons. So far this year, Kohli has played just two Test matches and has scored a mere 38 runs at an average of 9.50 and a strike rate of 40. The captain has, in fact, crossed the 50-run mark just once in the first game of his last five-Test series.

The captain’s record at the Adelaide Oval, however, is something that he will look forward to. In six innings at the venue, the top-order batsman has scored 431 runs at an average of 71.83. Furthermore, of his six centuries against Australia, three have come at this venue.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan