Legendary Sri Lanka batter Mahela Jayawardene feels Australia have a chance of defeating India in the upcoming four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy series which begins on Thursday in Nagpur. Australia and India, currently ranked No.1 and 2 respectively in both the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings and the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023 cycle, will meet in a four-match Test series in India.
“I think it’s always going to be a great series. I think Indian conditions and how the Australian batsmen tackle that, they do have a really good bowling unit and how do the Indian batsmen tackle that … it depends on how each team starts the series and who’s got that momentum. But it will be fascinating,” Mahela Jayawardene said in the latest edition of the ICC Review.
“It’s difficult to predict, but being a Sri Lankan, I’m hoping that Australia can go all the way. Probably a 2-1 win for Australia, but it’s going to be a tough one,” he added.
Shubhman Gill’s spectacular form in white-ball cricket has given India a significant boost in the shorter formats, and Jayawardene believes he has what it takes to make a similar impression in red-ball cricket.
“He’s been very good, he’s technically very sound and he’s a good player of pace. That’ll keep him in good stead against that Australian attack, but it’s always going to be tough and it will be a very good series,” the Sri Lankan said of Gill.
