The Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a highly anticipated five-match Test series between Australia and India, is still a few months away. However, former Australian coach John Buchanan believes that Australia holds a slight advantage going into the series. While India emerged victorious in the previous two Test series Down Under, in 2018-19 and 2020-21, Buchanan argues that the touring team will face significant challenges adjusting to the unique Australian conditions without adequate preparation games.
Buchanan explained, “I never make predictions, but I would just say that Australia is favored going into the series right at this stage. When you look around world cricket these days, and it has been for some time, it’s very difficult to tour other countries. The reason for that is the travelling teams no longer have that preparation in a country (they are visiting). They don’t play two or three games prior to playing the first Test match to adjust to a country, because nobody wants to tour for that long.” He further elaborated, “That makes it very difficult when you go to Perth, where it’s fast and bouncy. India will be playing against Bangladesh (and New Zealand) at home prior to that, so the wickets are going to be completely different.”
The series, featuring five Tests for the first time since 1991-92, including a day-night Test at Adelaide, is considered a ‘classic’ by Buchanan. He highlighted the intense nature of the series, stating, “Five Tests does make a difference because by the time they reach Sydney, both teams will have played presumably four hard Test matches in a short period of time. So, that’s going to test everybody physically and mentally right through the series.” He believes that both teams are evenly balanced, with strong bowling lineups, but gives the edge to Australia’s bowling attack. While he acknowledges India’s strong batting lineup, he still favors Australia’s batting slightly at this stage.
Buchanan acknowledged the impact of a packed calendar on the ability to accommodate more tour games, stating, “It means you’ve actually got to stop playing a lot of the T20 and the T10 leagues. But that’s not going to happen. And, of course, from a player’s perspective, they don’t want long tours anymore because they want to be freed up to play other tournaments. So that’s not going to happen.” He emphasized the need for a transition between short and long format games to allow players to adjust, saying, “…It’s decisions from the administrators that are key in factoring formats. I think there needs to be a place for the transition game between playing really short format games and the longer format because you need to understand going back to just adjustment and adapting. You need to be able to work out how to adapt your game, bowl or bat, field or whatever, from a really short game to a longer game…”
Regarding the Australian opening batsman, Buchanan does not favor Steve Smith opening the innings. However, he believes that the absence of David Warner, who recently retired from international cricket, will not significantly impact the home team. He said, “When you look at his (Warner’s) performances over the last 18 months or so, he wasn’t the best player that he was previously. So, it’s time for a change. I think after the Australia-India series, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of changes in that Australian Test side because most of them are over 30.”
With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy set to be a closely contested battle, the lack of preparation games and the packed cricket calendar will add another layer of intrigue to this exciting series. It remains to be seen whether Australia’s perceived advantage will translate into a successful campaign on home soil.
