The veteran Australian off-spinner, Nathan Lyon, has pinpointed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant as the three Indian batters who will be a challenge in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting on November 22 in Perth.
The 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy follows a clash between India and Australia in Adelaide-the pink-ball game, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney before wrapping up on January 7, 2025. This will be the first five-match Test series between these two teams since the 1991/92 season.
India have been two-time winners of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the last two series, winning 2-1 on tours to Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21. "I think Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant are probably going to be the three really big ones. But then you've still got Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Jadeja, and who else will come out—another five, I'm not sure," Lyon told Star Sports.
The prolific right-handed batsman has carved up 1,352 runs, inclusive of six centuries and four fifties, at an average of 54.08 in 13 Tests in Australia. India's captain Rohit Sharma has made 408 runs in seven Tests in Australia, including three fifties.
Pant, a left-handed wicketkeeper-batter, has scored 624 runs in seven Tests in Australia at an average of 62.4, with one century and two fifties. Lyon, who has claimed 530 wickets in 129 Test matches, believes it will take everything from Australia to shake the resistance of the Indian batters in this prestigious series.
But it's a pretty amazing lineup they have got, so it's going to be a massive challenge. As I said if we as a bowling group are good enough for long periods, hopefully, we can challenge their defense, he added.
The India A team face Australia A in two four-day games - from October 31 to November 3 at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay and then from November 7-10 at the MCG - before the Test series. Before the Test in Perth, meanwhile, India play a three-day intra-squad game at the WACA Ground from November 15-17.
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