Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, Australian skipper Pat Cummins said his side will "make amends" this time around after losing the last four successive editions of the series.
Australia could be the team that retained the title for the last four BGT, which included their famous series wins in 2018-19 and 2020-21 where Rishabh Pant played a magnificent knock of 89 not out at Gabba and snatched the victory in style to end Australia's 32-year-long undefeated run at their fortress.
The Aussie skipper termed the Indian wicket-keeper batter an X-factor in the middle order and also highlighted his cheeky behavior behind the stumps.
"Rishabh had a great series here in Australia last time. He's always a bit of that X-factor in the middle order. You never quite know what you're going to get, which is exciting, even as the opposition. And he's always got something to say behind the stumps—he's very funny, makes me laugh," Cummins said in Star Sports' Press Room.
Cummins also shared his thoughts on how the bowling line-up in Australian rates Indian youngsters like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
"Played a little bit against Shubman. Not much of Jaiswal, seen a little bit of him in IPL. But both of them, they look like young guys who've scored a fair few runs in different formats. Get down here and have a good look at them. But yeah, we're still a little while away from the series, so I can't say I've been planning too closely for them yet."
The five-match Test series between India and Australia kick-starts from November 22. India and Australia will play from Perth to Adelaide (pink-ball match), Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney from November 22 till January 7, 2025.
India have also beaten Australia at their place for two consecutive times in Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the years 2018/19 and 2020/21. Australia, in fact, hasn't won a Test series since 2014-15, when they had beaten New Zealand 2-0, all on their home soil.
"We have had a wee bit of a break, so I am looking forward to the five match Test series. I am excited to get into it. We have not had much luck against India over the last couple of Test series, but we always pride ourselves in playing well here in Australia. The last two series were an age ago, so I think we have got over that. But we have very high expectations when we play Test cricket in Australia. I think that is from the fans and the media as well. So anytime we do not win down here, you look at those series a wee bit closer," said Cummins.
"The last series was really tough. It was that very last session at the Gabba, unfortunate that we could not pull it through. Lots of guys in the team are the same bunch that played in that series and came here to make amends," he added.
Cummins also spoke about the loss of Cameron Green for the BGT after the allrounder chose to have surgery on a lower-back stress fracture. "About Cam Green, he is a big loss to us. It's not just with the bat, but perhaps he is the best gully fielder I have ever seen, and a great bowler that we need as well. So, we are going to miss him really badly."
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