Preview: The Final Test of BGT 2024-25

"दूरस्थं च समीपस्थं च यथा गगनं चन्द्रमाः।

अन्तं किमिदं संजातं किं कदाचित् उपस्थितम्॥"

("Is it far or is it near, like the moon in the sky?

Has the end truly arrived, or is it merely about to arrive?)

Behind by 2-1 in a defining series and going into the 5th and final test at the SCG tomorrow, the above verse is reminiscent of the current state of Indian cricket. It indicates the lingering sense of an end that may or may not have arrived. It got further exacerbated when the Indian Team's head coach, Gautam Gambhir (and his comments), showed up in the captain's pre-match press conference instead of Rohit Sharma, the captain.

This, along with other reports, made everyone speculate if Rohit is retiring. But, as per the latest announcements, it has been confirmed that Rohit himself has opted out of the SCG test. Whether these announcements reflect the truth of the dressing room or not, only Team India would be able to tell. However, even if Rohit genuinely opted out, it still does not guarantee that he will play again in tests.
If he does intend to come back, there will be apparent questions about who he will replace in the team — KL Rahul, Shubhman Gill, Dhruv Jurel, or Sarfaraz Khan. Having watched Rohit lead for years, he might just choose to bid adieu to test cricket after the SCG test.

In Rohit's absence, Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team and Shubman Gill will take the batting slot. There will be one more change in the Indian squad tomorrow. Akash Deep has been ruled out of the 5th test due to a stiff back and Prasidh Krishna is likely to be given the chance in his place.

There could also be a toss-up between Washington Sundar and Dhruv Jurel. With the SCG being a spin-friendly wicket historically, it will be a tough decision to drop Sundar, especially after his gritty half-century at the MCG.

India's chances though, would rely on playing well collectively and capitalizing on good periods of play. They cannot afford to let Bumrah shoulder all the bowling responsibilities for one more test. Their batters too will have to bridge the gap between expectations and performances. If not, India will not just lose the series, they may get eliminated from the World Test Championship final race as well.

Australia on the other hand, are flying high after their MCG win. They have made a strong comeback after their loss in Perth over a month ago, and now, find themselves on the cusp of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014-15. They are also the best-placed team to qualify for the remaining slot of the World Test Championship Final. A win at SCG will secure them the Finals spot.

They have announced one change in their playing XI for the SCG Test. Beau Webster will be making his debut, replacing the out-of-form Mitchell March. Webster, an allrounder himself, was the highest run-getter in Sheffield Shield last year with 938 runs at 58.62 and he also took 30 wickets at 29.30.

The venue for the fifth test is Sydney Cricket Ground or, the SCG. The SCG has one of the best batting wickets in Australia, with teams averaging 35 runs per wicket in the last three years. As the game progresses, the pitch deteriorates and aids spin by the fourth and fifth day. Australia have often used Mitchell Starc's footmarks here to help create rough patches around the batters for Nathan Lyon to bowl.

Lyon against Indian batters on the fifth day might be one of the contests to watch out for if India bats last here. Another eye-catching contest, courtesy of the MCG test, will be rounds 3 and 4 of the Konstas vs. Bumrah battle.

Apart from Cricket, SCG will witness two other events.

First is the noble cause of spreading awareness and raising donations for Breast Cancer. Since 2009, every New Year test has been hosted here and they are associated with the McGrath Foundation's Pink Test.

Second is a natural event — rain. As per the official Australian government's forecast, Sydney has a 20% chance of rain on the first and fourth days, 5% on the second and third days, and 80% on the final day.

Stats

• Jasprit Bumrah has bowled 142 overs in this series and has picked up 30 wickets at an average of 12.83. India's rest of the bowlers, at least 4 every match, have bowled an aggregate of 401 overs and have picked up 36 wickets at an average of 44.33.

  
  

• Steven Smith, on the back of two consecutive hundreds, is now only 38 short of 10k Test runs.

  
  

• This is the first time India are winless for 3 or more tests since 2014-15 (9 then).

  
  

• India have only won 1 test at SCG in 13 instances.

  
  

• Australia are unbeaten at SCG since 2011.

  
  

• Rohit Sharma, since his move to the top of the order in Tests in October 2019, has scored the most runs, most 100s, most 50s, most 6s, and most 4s for India in Test cricket.

When & Where to Watch?

The Final Test of the BGT 2024-25 will start at 05:00 am IST on the 3rd of January and will be telecast live on Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.

Teams

India's Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammad Siraj.

Australia's Playing XI: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(wk), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.

Players to Watch out for:

Shubhman Gill, Nathan Lyon

Squads

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Tanush Kotian, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana

Australia: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Beau Webster, Jhye Richardson, Sean Abbott