Real Test: India Eye Summit Clash, Australia Seek Revenge

Nagpur
Rohit Sharma, a bonafide white-ball legend, will face his biggest test as India's red-ball captain against a determined Australian side which would be hungry for revenge when the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar series starts here Thursday.
It is a series that promises a lot of twists and turns, engrossing sub-plots and probably career-defining performances. It's such a high-profile rubber that non-performance could lead to end of career for some after this series.
During the hey days of Channel 9, former Australia captain Bill Lawry would often use the term It's all happening at the MCG during exciting games. Trust this four-Test series to throw up more surprises than one can possibly envisage.
The series, a cricket connoisseurs' delight, will throw up several topics of discussion as the caravan moves from one destination to the other.
Will captain Rohit Sharma curb his instinct to pull Pat Cummins if the Australian captain keeps a long leg and digs one short? Will Virat Kohli use the sweep shot more often against Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon as the batting stalwart looks to turn around his ordinary showing against slow bowlers in recent times? Can Suryakumar Yadav's 'three-dimensional' strokeplay earn him Rahul Dravid's faith ahead of Shubman Gill, the man touted to lead India's batting when the transition phase kicks-in in another 18 to 24 months? Will Axar Patel's under-cutters be more effective than Kuldeep Yadav's trickeries of bringing the ball back into right handers? The back-to-back series defeats in their own den (2018-19 and 2020-21) have hurt Cummins and his players and they certainly have revenge on its mind, even though it will be easier said than done on a pitch that promises appreciable turn from first day itself.
The quality of India versus Australia Test matches since the epic 2001 series has, at times, been better than the Ashes. The journey of this batch of Australian cricketers won't be complete if they don't emulate the exploits of the Matthew Haydens, Justin Langers, Glenn McGraths or the Adam Gilchrists of 2004.
Steve Smith put it aptly, saying a series win in India will be bigger than the Ashes.