Off the back of one of their worst home losses of all time, India have travelled to Australia in one of the most hotly contested match ups in world cricket.
Whilst India-Australia is not necessarily a traditional rivalry - the emergence of India as a dominant force on and off field in the last 15 years has created a new dynamic to one of the more old-school dominant powers in the game.
Recent clashes have been evenly matched and fiercely contested. The most recent series in Australia was possibly the most dramatic with India grabbing the series 2-1 desperate having their side obliterated by injury.
Whilst Australia haven’t beaten India in a Test series in 10 years, they have beaten them in the final of the World Test Championship last year and against all odds won the last World Cup in Ahmedabad.
So there’s some recent history between the two sides.
This brings us to the present day - the eve of the latest edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which kicks off at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Usually, both sides would come into this contest primed, confident of their setups and XIs but this time…there’s a good argument to say they’re not.
India’s recent form has been well documented.
The first Test in Bangalore was seen as an upset in isolation, but a second and third Test victories for New Zealand showed that this wasn’t just a blip for India.
Is this the final time Kohli will don the whites in front of the Australian crowd?
As for Australia, whilst they’ve not come off a bad run of results they certainly can’t claim to be well practised. Their last Test came in March in New Zealand and in the series before that, the West Indies provided a huge upset by beating the Aussies at the Gabba.
Neither side has necessarily been at their dominant best.
What is most surprising about this series though is that it will almost certainly be the final big series for a number of key names in both groups. Both Australia and India are coming to the end of a wonderful generation of cricketers, some of whom are being selected far more on their previous form and their capabilities rather than their recent form.
Form is an indicator but not it certainly doesn’t write the scripts - just look at New Zealand’s tour to Sri Lanka immediately preceding their trip to India.
If India’s last tour to Australia is anything to go by, they have the ability to play unfamiliar faces to great effect.
Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan Lyon, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin are all 33 or older and certainly in the latter stages of their careers. Whilst there’s nothing to say that this series will be their last, it’s not difficult to see that the next Border-Gavaskar will certainly have a very different look to it. The next BGT will look even more different.
This tour therefore represents one last chance for some of the greats to really cement their place in history.
For the Australian side, only Smith, Marsh, Lyon, Starc and Hazlewood have ever tasted a series victory over the Indians and this may be their last chance to do so.
For India, a three-peat is on the cards, to leave Australian shores in the New Year with a third series win away from home in as many attempts would be remarkable considering 2018/19 was their first ever. For names like Kohli, Sharma, Jadeja, Shami and Ashwin this series truly represents one more for old-times sake.
The aforementioned names have been part of the reason as to why this contest has been so mouth-watering in recent times and the battles that have emerged as a result of it.
Paine v Kohli, Paine v Ashwin...a lot of them seemed to involve the ex-Australia captain but it certainly stokes the fire. That's before we even get into some of the innings and bowling that individuals have performed with over the years. Rishabh Pant's incredible cameos in the last series, Kohli's twin tonnes in 2014, Hazlewood and Cummins skittling India for 36 in Adelaide, Pujara's massive runs in 2018/19, Nathan Lyon's consistent wicket-taking against India. That's all just within the last 10 years.
The series does have an end-of-school kind of feel to it, the final one of a generation. It also has the feel of a series that could prompt some retirements by the end of it…
Take a moment to think of Nathan McSweeny; walking into the middle of a war he knows nothing about.
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