Hosts Australia were stunned in the opening Test of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy as a limited Team India—without their captain—hit hard to draw first blood in the five-match Test series.
India now have their captain back as they head to Adelaide for the second Test, which will be a pink-ball, day-night affair. Ahead of the match, here are our match preview and predictions.
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The first Test saw India have a horror start with the bat after they elected to bat first, as barring KL Rahul no other batter looked comfortable. After they were knocked out for 150, it was stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah who bailed India out with a terrific five-wicket haul to bundle Australia out for 104. Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal got things right in the second innings and provided India a solid platform, which Virat Kohli capitalised on with his 81st international century as India put up a massive score. Bumrah then led from the front once again and was supported by Mohammed Siraj in the second innings as the Aussies were restricted to under 250 and India took the series lead with a 295-run win.
Josh Hazlewood, who picked up four wickets in the first innings, will miss the second Test due to injury, though Australia have a more-than-handy replacement in Scott Boland. With the bat, barring Travis Head, no other Australian batter crossed the 50-run mark in either innings. The hosts would like to rectify that, with the likes of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne needing to step up.
The Adelaide Oval will provide some support to the fast bowlers, and the pink ball should trouble the batters early on. With India having Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill back in the XI, we hand the visitors the advantage for this encounter.
Fantasy XI: Travis Head, KL Rahul, Steve Smith, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins
Venue: Adelaide
Winners Prediction: India
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