In the opinion of former Australian cricketer Geoffrey Lawson, the forthcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 might be the best Test series in the 21st century. India will tour Australia for a five-match Test series starting from 22nd November 2024. It’s important to note that this will be the first time that both countries will contest a five-match series since 1991-92.
Before the much-anticipated five-match encounter among the two teams, ex-cricketers and authorities have started giving their reviews. On his part, Lawson has also made some daring claims asserting that this particular series may have no draws at all making it one of its kind in terms of its quality during the whole period of the 21st century.
“A hot, dry Australian summer is expected, so I don’t think there will be any tied matches. Both teams like to attack and have players who can make fast runs and cause batting collapses. This could be the best Test series of the 21st century so far, reminding us why Test cricket is the top form of the game,” Mid Day quoted.
India and Australia have already played two memorable Test series in 2001 and 2020-21. In the 2001 Border Gavaskar Trophy, India made a miraculous comeback by winning the famous Kolkata Test after being forced to follow on. Led by Sourav Ganguly, India also won the final Test in Chennai in a thrilling way, giving Steve Waugh’s unbeatable Australia their first Test series loss after 16 consecutive Test wins.
In the 2020-21 series, India made a strong recovery after a severe loss in the first Test, where they were all out for just 36. Despite this setback, India went on to win a significant series in Australia with a weakened team, as many of their experienced players were injured. They even managed to beat Australia at the Gabba, a venue where Australia hadn’t lost since 1986.
At the same time, even though India has been leading the BGT since 2017, Lawson chose Australia as the likely winner, predicting a 3-2 series victory for them.
“Predicting the winner is tricky, which is exactly what the fans are hoping for. I’m leaning towards an Australian win with a score of 3-2,” he said.