IND vs AUS: “We are a side [that] will thrash you in this series”, Sunil Gavaskar makes a huge prediction on the BGT 2024/25

Sunil Gavaskar credits his criticism as one of the biggest motivations received by the Indian team, which helped them secure a splendid victory at Perth after their dismayed performance in the home series against the Blackcaps.

Indian Cricket Team won the first match of the five-match Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 by a comprehensive margin of 295 runs. At the start of the series, everyone was downplaying India and terming the Aussies as favourites given that India was coming on the back of a 3-0 whitewash suffered at home against New Zealand. However, India came back strongly after being dismissed for 150 runs batting first in the first innings.

Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar remarked that there was considerable discussion in the Australian media regarding the legality of the catch by Suryakumar Yadav during the T20 World Cup final. He questioned the basis on which Australians, from their own country, could doubt whether Suryakumar’s feet had touched the ground. Gavaskar in a rare feat self-praised himself to be the root cause of the motivation Team India received due to his criticisms which led them to a famous BGT comeback after a home series sweep. 

“Now remember that Suryakumar Yadav catch in the T20 World Cup final. There were so many things being written in the media in Australia that questioned the legality of that catch. How can you, sitting right here in Australia, question if Suryakumar’s feet touched the ground? That is why our team showed that we are a side [that] will thrash you in this series,” stated Gavaskar, as quoted by India Today.

Sunil Gavaskar feels that India always comes up hard in the Perth Test

Sunil Gavaskar after the Perth win for India, claimed that often such wins are followed by immense criticism on Australian media. He recalled the 2008 Perth win under Anil Kumble, where the clash between Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh led to an immense media scare, followed by India’s win. 

He draws a parallel to the current series, suggesting that once again, after facing criticism from the Australian media, India has emerged victorious in Perth.

“I remember India’s win at Perth in the 2007–08 series came right after that controversy between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds, which was followed by criticism from the Australian media. So that win in Perth, and the win this time (also in Perth), it shows that each time it’s the Australian media that goes against India,” he added.

India will now face Australia in the second Test match at the Adelaide Oval, which will be a Day/Night Test match with the Pink Ball. The last time around in the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide in BGT 2020-21, India was dismissed for 36 runs and registered their lowest total in a Test innings. The team needs to win four Test matches to have a chance of qualifying for the WTC final without depending on others.

ALSO READ: IPL mega-auction sees a huge surge in bids for Indian pacers