As we look back at the series, let's discuss five talking points from the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 ended with India losing the fifth Test match against Australia by six wickets on Day 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday. Australia won the five-match series 3-1 and bagged the BGT series after 10 years. (More Cricket News)
The last 43 days were filled with many exciting thrilling encounters between the players from both teams. India won the first Test in Perth by 295 runs under Jasprit Bumrah's leadership and failed to win any match after that.
Australia, led by Pat Cummins, made a remarkable comeback to win the series 3-1 after trailing by 0-1 in the Perth Test. The Gabba Test ended in a draw when rain on Day 5 ended India's dream to take the lead in the series.
As we look back at the series, let's discuss five talking points from the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25;
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the two main batters whose bats remained silent on most of the occasions in the series. Kohli made only 190 runs in nine innings including a century which came in the second innings at Perth.
Rohit Sharma missed the first Test due to the birth of his son but failed to make an impact in the next three matches. He made 31 runs in five innings which led to his exclusion from the fifth and final Test match in Sydney.
Apart from them, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill also failed to play any impactful knock in the series. KL Rahul played a couple of big knocks but he also failed to make any triple-digit score despite getting all five matches to play.
Jasprit Bumrah was named 'Player of the Series' for his tremendous success in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 where he took 32 wickets in five matches. Playing all five matches is a commendable job in itself for a player of Bumrah's calibre and action.
He took two four-fers and three fifers in the series and conceded just 418 runs in 908 balls. His bowling average of 13.06 is the best in the series. He also completed his 200 Test wickets and that too with the best average in the Test history.
His leadership in the first Test match helped India win the Test match and take the lead in the BGT from the start. With Rohit Sharma's future as Test captain in danger, Bumrah looked ready to take the role for a long time.
Nitish Kumar Reddy is the find of the series for India. He came as an all-rounder but failed to impress with the ball. But, his batting technique and ability to play attacking and defensive cricket according to the situation made him a positive aspect for the Indian Test team.
He made 298 runs in this series with the highest score of 114 runs coming at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test match. Reddy, 21, can be a crucial player for India in the upcoming Champions Trophy where India will play all of their matches in Dubai. Reddy can come down the order and play his natural game for the team in 50-over cricket.
It is sure that he will be promoted in the batting order in the next Test series after five months in England. If he remains fit and in form, he can prove to be a game-changing player for India in whites for a long time. But he needs to increase some pace in his bowling.
Rohit Sharma already said that he will not be 'going anywhere'. There were some speculations that he might call time on his Test career after his poor form with the bat and India losing in his captaincy. He 'opted out' himself from the Sydney Test in favour of the team but the selectors may not select him for the next tour, as per multiple reports.
BCCI is also not happy with the performance of Team India and how the team management including the head coach Gautam Gambhir has led the team. Many big steps are expected to be taken in the next few months with some senior players losing their place from the Test squad. It is not latent that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are two batters who looked struggling on these pitches. Bumrah also looked more than ready to take on a leadership role in the Test team.
Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement after the third Test match at The Gabba in Brisbane came as a shocker for most of the Indian fans. That is the most important talking point from the series. He played in the second Test match which was a Pink-Ball Day-Night Test match in Adelaide. He took only one wicket in the match and was rested in the next Test where he announced his retirement.
His retirement came as a shock for most of his teammates as well with Ravindra Jadeja claiming that he got to know about the decision the moment when he was going for the press conference. Ashwin has taken over 700 wickets and scored over 4000 international runs in his career.