The Border Gavaskar Trophy begins on February 9, 2023. Both teams will be looking to give their best in this test. The Australian cricket team is coming off an elite WTC cycle. Their cycle started with the Ashes, where they washed away the England cricket team. Further, they visited a few nations and crushed them to defeat. not that they will be hosted by India. In the past 10 years, India has lost only 2 test matches in the country. One of them is the Pune Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2017. So, Australia has been a tough contender. Here is a look at the 3 players’ battles to watch out for:
David Warner VS Ravichandran Ashwin will be a Key Battle in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023:
Ravichandra Ashwin has a feast over the left-handers. One of the top left-handers on the planet is David Warner. Ravichandran Ashwin has enjoyed decent success against Warner. He has managed to get the wicket of the “Pocket-Size Dynamite” 10 times in international cricket. Here is a look at the batsmen who have been dismissed by Ashwin the greatest number of times. We notice that the ones at the top are all left-handers:
| Batter Name | Country | Number of Dismissals |
| Ben Stokes | England | 11 |
| David Warner | Australia | 10 |
| Alastair Cook | England | 9 |
| Ed Cowan | Australia | 7 |
| James Anderson | England | 7 |
But Warner’s trike rate has improved in the past few years and his skill to negotiate with off-spinners has also improved. Hence it will be great to see the battle between one of the best openers on the planet and one of the best off-spinners that the game has ever witnessed. The Border Gavaskar Trophy will be graced with this contest.
Virat Kohli VS Pat Cummins will be a Key Battle in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023:
Pat Cummins has made Virat Kohli look very mediocre in front of him. He has got his wicket quite a few times now. Every cricket fan awaits a contest between Stac and Kohli and it is Cummins who comes like an out-of-syllabus question. Pat Cummins has dismissed Kohli 9 times in international cricket. It is always that one delivery outside of off-stump that bothers Virat Kohli. At the same time, Kohli’s strike rate against Pat revolves around 90-95 against Pat. This number is pretty impressive in the context to test cricket. The Border Gavaskar Trophy will be graced with this contest.
Rohit Sharma VS Mitchell Starc:
Rohit Sharma going up against Mitchell Starc will be a real contest. It will be a bit difficult for Sharma as he has difficulty facing a left-arm pacer. Here are the stats of Rohit Sharma against left-arm pace since 2019:
| Stat | Value |
| Matches | 24 |
| Dismissals | 6 |
| Strike Rate | 85 |
| Average | 24.3 |
But Rohit Sharma has something that neutralizes Starc’s biggest weapon. Starc’s biggest weapon is his chin music. When he bowls short balls, it becomes lethal. But Rohit is known for his pull shot. His game against fast short balls is elite. It is so good that Rohit sends the ball to the deep square leg or fine leg from the front foot itself.
To know more go to India VS Australia 2023: Indian Squad Announced for the First Two Tests. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan Included.
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To know more go to the official website of the BCCI.
