Hyderabad: The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is here, and it's expected to be more intense than ever. In the World Test Championship era, India and Australia will face off in a 5-match Test series for the first time, highlighting the growing rivalry between the two nations.
Although this series does not have the century-long history of the Ashes, it has certainly been fiercely contested over the past two decades. This time, Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah—two fast bowlers with very different styles—will captain their respective teams at least in the first Test. This marks the first occasion that both India and Australia will be led by fast bowlers, illustrating how these generational talents have influenced traditional team structures in Australia and India.
However, fast bowlers leading the side as a captain hasn't been a common phenomenon in cricket history. Interestingly, this is the only sixth instance when two fast bowlers are captaining their sides in a Test match in the 147 years history of Test cricket.
While Cummins is the more experienced in the duo, having won the World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup in 2023, Bumrah donned the skipper responsibility only for the second time. Cummins is the full-time Test and ODI captain of Australia while Bumrah will lead the Men in Blue in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who is yet to travel to Australia as he was celebrating the homecoming of recently born baby.