India will play Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad from Thursday in the fourth Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series. While India will seek a WTC Final berth by winning this Test, Australia will want to draw level.
We look at the current form, head-to-head, players to look out for, and squads of both teams in our match preview.
Current form of Australia: W L L D W
After slipping to 2-0 at Delhi, drawing the series looked like a speck on the horizon for Australia but a spirited performance at Indore must have added a shot in the visitors’ arm. Australia has lost the last three Border-Gavaskar series, with the last two defeats coming on their own turf and if they can go back home with shared spoils, they will be a delighted unit.
Current form of India: L W W W W
There is no iota of doubt that India needs to come up with a better batting show. The top and middle order haven’t yet delivered on difficult pitches and they will need to pull up their socks in the final Test. There has been a lot of noise regarding the pitch but Indian batters also played some reckless shots.
Head to Head: Matches: 105, Won by Australia: 44, Won by India: 32, Draws: 28, Tied: 1.
Australia holds the advantage in the head-to-head battle against India.
Players to watch out for: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami will hold the key for India.
Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Travis Head, and Nathan Lyon will be the crucial players for Australia.
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, 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: Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith ©, Mitchell Starc, Matt Kunhemann.
