NEW DELHI: Former Australia captain Tim Paine believes Australia will begin as clear favourites for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against India, citing India’s recent struggles with form and injuries.
Paine, who led Australia in the last two consecutive BGT losses, shared his thoughts on The Grade Cricketer Podcast, suggesting that Australia’s stability and home advantage give them the edge.
“Australia are going to start pretty strong favourites. I think India have not been playing pretty well, their batting looks a little brittle. So, Australia’s batting does not look amazing in terms of output, but we know they have got the quality,” Paine said.
He also mentioned the absence of Mohammed Shami as a significant blow for India and expressed concern over Jasprit Bumrah’s workload, adding, “Shami is going to be a huge difference, Bumrah, there is so much on his shoulders. If he gets hurt, then it’s curtains for me.”
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Reflecting on India’s recent Test series loss to New Zealand, Paine humorously commented, “No. They (New Zealand) are not very good. Is that harsh? Unbelievable performance, no doubt about that. But that makes me worry a little about India, totally honest. Coming to Australia, without Mohammed Shami as well, but New Zealand have always been an amazing team at scrapping and getting the best out of themselves if you make a mistake.”
Paine also revisited India’s historic 2020-21 series win in Australia, singling out Cheteshwar Pujara as the series hero.
“What I do remember, a lot of people talk about Rishabh Pant in the last series in Australia, but the guy who won them the series was Pujara. He wore us down, he wore our fast bowlers down. He kept getting hit on the body, but he kept getting up. There is still a place for that in Test cricket,” Paine remarked.
India’s selectors have named an 18-member squad for the five-Test series starting next month, but the absence of Shami due to a knee injury has forced them to field an inexperienced pace attack.
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Bumrah will lead the bowling unit, supported by Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, and Harshit Rana. Seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Reddy has also been included to provide depth in both batting and bowling.
Interestingly, the three travelling reserves — Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed — are all pacers, highlighting concerns about the pace department. Kuldeep Yadav was excluded due to a groin injury, while Washington Sundar and Abhimanyu Easwaran have made the cut.
India’s first Test against Australia begins on November 22 in Perth, kicking off the much-anticipated series.