India and Australia’s forthcoming Test series is keenly awaited. While the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) is still few months away, all eyes are on the next edition. Australia have not won the BGT since the 2014-15 series, held on Australian soil. Since then, they have lost two home and two away series to India. Ahead of the upcoming India-Australia Tests, which will be a five-match series this time around, former BCCI chief selector Chetan Sharma has made a bold claim, saying ‘India will make the hosts run in their own backyard’. 

Talking on Rev Sportz, Sharma said, “There was a time when we used to think about what would happen when we went to Australia. How will we perform? And for the last two tours, we went to Australia and beat them. Previously, Australia used to take us lightly but now they know they have to play out of their skins to beat India. We have built that reputation.”

“We are currently the No.1-ranked team in the world. We will not only will give them a tough fight but we will make them run in their own backyard (hum unko bhagaynge unke hi ghar mein). I have a lot of confidence in the players,” he further opined.

Sharma, a veteran of 23 Tests and 65 ODIs, further added, “I have said multiple times that bowlers will win you Test matches. Right now, Team India has the best bowling attack in the world. We have always had good batters. At times, in foreign conditions, you get pitches when teams get bowled out for 250-260. Do you have the bowling attack to get them out? We have seen it in recent times that we have bowlers to bowl the opposition out for even 150. Our bowlers are our trump card.”

India have not lost the BGT since the 2016/17 edition, at home. Moreover, they became the first Asian side to beat Australia in a Test series on Australian soil in 2018/19 and replicated the feat in the 2020/21 tour before winning the last series in India, in early 2023. Thus, it will be interesting to see if they can once again beat the Aussies, the current World Test champions, on their home soil.

The five-match Test series commences on Nov 22 in Perth.