melbourne All cricket fans wait for 26th December, especially this date is celebrated a lot in Australia because the Boxing Day Test match starts on this day. The importance of Boxing Day is continuously increasing for the Indian fans living in Australia, especially after Team India won the last two Boxing Day Test matches, the craze for this day and the match has increased a lot.
The last time the Indian team won the Boxing Day Test match in 2021, the captain of the Indian team in that match was Ajinkya Rahane who scored a century in this match. Team India won the match and also won the Man of the Match award. You are surprised to know that from the 2021 team, 11 players including the captain are not with the team today.
Situation changed in three years
The Boxing Day Test match of 2021 was very special for Indian cricket in many ways. When the team reached Melbourne after being bundled out for 36 in Adelaide and losing the match, the captain was new, Rohit had no experience in batting, both Virat and Shami were not playing in this match and before the match it was felt that the Indian team would be defeated. But the opposite happened, first the bowlers and then the batting of captain Rahane and Jadeja made us win the match. After three years, there is Boxing Day Test match again. The five players who played in 2021, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj are with the team this time too and they also have the taste of victory. All these players had contributed significantly to the victory of 2021.
Australia also has experience
When Australia lost in the Boxing Day Test of 2021, 6 players of that team, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Travis Head, and Lambushen are still in the team and all these players will be part of the playing eleven. This means that Australia has a little more of the experience that the team needs for the big stage. In 2021, Tim Paine was the captain of the team and after losing the series, Pant Cummins got the captaincy. Since then Australian cricket has achieved a lot. Australia lost the last two Border Gavaskar Trophy and the host team also lost the Boxing Day Test both times. Now in the year 2024, only the Boxing Day Test will decide whether the Border Gavaskar Trophy will remain in India or will come to Australia. Because even if India wins Melbourne and loses Sydney, the trophy will remain with India and to reach the trophy Australia will have to defeat India in the Boxing Day Test.
Tags: Border Gavaskar Trophy, India vs Australia, India vs Australia Melbourne Test, jasprit bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli
FIRST PUBLISHED : December 23, 2024, 7:52 PM IST