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.
Australia: Nathan McSweeney (debut), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood #AUSvIND
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 22, 2024
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.
India: Yashsavi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy (debut), Jasprit Bumrah (c), Harshit Rana (debut), Mohammed Siraj #AUSvIND
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 22, 2024
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.
As far the records are concerned, Team India lost against England under Bumrah when he last captained the side. On the other hand, Pat Cummins has led Australia in 28 Test matches, won 17 and lost 6 matches while the five Tests resulted in a draw.
When fast bowlers led both teams in the same Test match:
- Bob Willis (England) v Imran Khan (Pakistan), 1982 (Birmingham)
- Wasim Akram (Pakistan) v Courtney Walsh (West Indies), 1997 (Professional)
- Heath Streak (Zimbabwe) v Shaun Pollock (South Africa), 2001 (Bulawayo)
- Jason Holder (West Indies) vs Suranga Lakmal (Sri Lanka), 2018 (Bridgetown)
- Pat Cummins (Australia) vs Tim Southee (New Zealand), 2024 (Christchurch)
- Pat Cummins (Australia) vs Jasprit Bumrah (India), 2024 (Perth)*
Playing XIs
Australia: Nathan McSweeney (debut), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India: Yashsavi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy (debut), Jasprit Bumrah (c), Harshit Rana (debut), Mohammed Siraj
