Border-Gavaskar Trophy All you need to know about

Australia and India, currently ranked No.1 and 2 respectively in both the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings and the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023 cycle, will meet in a four-match Test series in India. 

The first Test will be played in Nagpur between February 9 and 13.

The two teams faced-off in 50 Tests across 12 series between 1947-48 and 1991-92, after which the trophy was named to honour the two legends Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border. India and Australia first played for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 1996-97. 

India are the current holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, having won the series held in Australia in 2020-21.

They have named a strong squad for the upcoming series in India, when the hosts will aim to become the first team to win four consecutive Test series between the pair.

Squads for the 2023 series

India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

Australia Test squad for tour of India: Pat Cummins (captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

Series results till date

India and Australia have played in 27 Test series since their first meeting in 1947-48. Australia lead the way with 12 series wins to India’s 10, while five series have been drawn.

India have hosted Australia in 14 Test series and hold an 8-4 lead, with two of the series being drawn.

Eight of these Test series in India have been played for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with the hosts holding a 7-1 series lead in that time and a 16-5 win-loss ratio across the 25 Tests on their home soil.

Australia’s lone series win in India in that period came in 2004-05 – by a 2-1 margin – with the visitors winning two of the first three Tests in the four-match series under Adam Gilchrist with regular skipper Ricky Ponting sidelined.

India have won each of the last three Test series played between the two sides: at home in 2016-17, and away in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

India v Australia – Head to Head

Matches: 102
Won by India: 30 (29.41 percent)
Won by Australia: 43 (42.15 percent)
Drawn: 28
Tied: 1

Remember the last time

The last edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in Australia in 2020-21 was arguably one of the greatest series in the history of the sport.

India were famously bundled out for 36 in the second-innings of the series-opening pink-ball Test in Adelaide to go down by eight wickets, and with skipper Virat Kohli flying back home with paternal leave the team was not given much of a chance to turn the series around.

However, what followed was a stunning response in Melbourne with stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane registering a brilliant first-innings hundred to inspire the visitors to a resounding eight-wicket win.

Rishabh Pant, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari played starring roles in a hard-fought draw in Sydney to set up a decider in Brisbane.

India entered the fourth Test with a host of their senior players injured, with Mohammed Siraj in his third Test the most experienced bowler in an attack that included debutants T Natarajan and Washington Sundar.

Sundar and Shardul Thakur scored defiant fifties to stage India’s fightback and keep the game in balance after the first two innings of the Test, while Siraj bagged a maiden Test five-for in the second innings to set up a thrilling final day finish.

Powered by young guns Shubman Gill and Pant, and guided by Pujara, India hunt down the 328-run target with three wickets to spare to hand Australia their first Test defeat at the Gabba in a staggering 32 years and complete an epic series win.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia: D, W, W, W, W, L, W, W, D, D

India: W, W, L, W, W, L, L, W, W, D

Australia registered Test series wins against the West Indies and South Africa recently, while India’s last Test assignment was their 2-0 clean sweep on the Bangladesh tour in December.

WTC standings and run to the Final

Australia sit at the top of the current ICC World Test Championship standings with a points percentage of 75.56, and are primed for a spot in the WTC Final to be played at The Oval later this year.

India are placed second with 58.93 percentage points, closely followed by Sri Lanka on 53.33 and South Africa in fourth on 48.72.