As the cricket world gears up for a new Test season, the fierce rivalry between India and Australia remains a hot topic of discussion.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be on the line once again as India prepares to defend their title once again. With the series set to start on November 22, Australian opener Usman Khawaja shared his thoughts on the evolved rivalry between the two cricketing giants.

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Border Gavaskar Trophy: What did Usman Khawaja say about the Australia vs India rivalry?

Usman Khawaja, who is expected to open the innings for Australia in the upcoming series, acknowledges the rivalry. He spoke about the evolving rivalry between India and Australia.

According to Khawaja, the competition between these two teams has become one of the most exciting in world cricket. Speaking on Star Sports, the Australia batter said:

“We’re world number one, world number two teams really over the last two years. We were there at the last World Test Championship together. The rivalry has always been huge.”.

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This rivalry has particularly intensified following India’s continuous successes in recent bilateral series against Australia. India has managed to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy during their last two visits to Australia.

The Indian team defeated Australia in the 2018/19 series and repeated the same during the 2021/22 visit, despite challenging circumstances. Khawaja considers the joy of Indian teams in beating Australia to be a sign of respect for a country that has dominated world events in the sport.

“I take it as a sign of respect and I know it that Indians love beating Australia in any sort of form of cricket. And the tradition that Australia has had over so many years as being one of the dominating teams in world cricket has staked that reputation. I think, yeah, for Indians it’s always been the case to beat Australia.”

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India’s recent successes against Australia have further fueled the rivalry. Khawaja pointed out that India’s historic victories in Australia in the 2018/19 and 2021/22 series have made the competition even more intense.

“Since the rise of India and IPL and everything else that happened, it’s the same way with Australia against India. And particularly since India’s beaten Australia in Australia the last two times they’ve come out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It just means a little bit more,” Khawaja added.

As India prepares to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the upcoming series, Australia is equally eager to reclaim it, this time on their home turf. The series, starting on November 22, will be a five-match Test series between the two sides.