The Border-Gavaskar series is tantalisingly poised at 1-1 with both India and Australia having shown the promise and flaws to head into the fabled Gabba for the third Test, starting in Brisbane from Saturday. Both sides will have one eye on the ICC World Test Championship table, which has witnessed massive swings after South Africa vaulted to the top, dethroning Australia after a day’s stay, and pushing India to the third place following the Adelaide loss.

For Rohit Sharma & Co, the remaining three Tests, including the one starting Saturday, holds greater significance to stay alive in the race to the WTC final at the Lord’s in June, 2025. Australia, on the other hand, have another two-Test series against Sri Lanka to capitalise in case they lose the ongoing BGT.

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Having said that, the Aussies will be desperately hoping to turn around their recent record at the iconic venue where they lost two of their last four matches. One of those losses came in the form of a three-wicket defeat to India during the previous tour in 2020-21, and the recent one came at the start of 2024 against a spirited West Indian side.

Cut to the ongoing BGT, the series has been one of those keenly contested ones, with flares running both sides, considering Australia are looking for their first series win against India in over a decade both at home and away. And as things stand, India began the ongoing series with a commanding 295-run win in Perth before Australia tamed the visitors with a 10-wicket mauling in Adelaide for the 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to veer dangerously close to another epic tussle for supremacy.

On the eve of the third Test, the pitch at the Gabba still retains a tinge of green, providing enough signals to the batters of either side to get their act straight or get ready to dance to the tunes of the faster men. The top-order of both sides haven’t been consistent across the past two Tests, with Australia’s opening woes refusing to settle, besides the batting form of their mainstay Steve Smith continuing to hurt them. India will be able to sympathise because like Usman Khawaja and Smith, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (who could be returning as opener) have been more down than up.

With all four in their mid to late 30’s and left nothing to prove, the ongoing series could, however, be critical in deciding their respective futures, and thus it is high time all the four star players get into their groove, and leave their mark in the high-profile series. Although Kohli managed to score a century in the tour opener, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal’s century that eventually helped India take the lead.

Smith, who returned to his customary No.4 spot in the series, has managed just 19 runs from the first two Tests. He has a century drought stretching to 24 innings now, but the veteran right-hander will hope to take some positives from the 91 he scored as an opener at the Gabba against the West Indies in January.

For India, Rishabh Pant will return with happy memories at the ground, which probably gave him the certificate of graduation from a rookie keeper-bat to a seasoned Test cricketer. Pant’s unbeaten 89 at the Gabba in 2021 is remembered as one of the greatest moments in Indian cricket as it not only helped the side register a second consecutive series triumph on Australian soil but also broke a 32-year Australian hegemony at the stadium.

Meanwhile, Australia have already announced their Playing XI on the eve of the match, and confirmed the comeback of Josh Hazlewood as the only change at the expense of Scott Boland, one of their star performers in Adelaide with a match-haul of five wickets.

India, on the other hand, are still mulling at changes, especially around the composition of the top order and their bowling department. If the recent training sessions are an indication, Rohit could return to the opening slot, pushing KL Rahul to the middle order. There could also be changes in the bowling attack with Akash Deep, the preferred third pacer during India’s recent home season, likely to replace Harshit Rana, and Washington Sundar pushing Ravichandran Ashwin for a place in the playing XI.

Even though the Gabba wicket promises to assist the quick men, David Sandurski, the pitch curator has predicted the right balance for the batters with the ability to dig out runs, and stick to the basics. For the seasoned pros — Smith, Khawaja, Rohit and Kohli — the stage could be perfect to put behind their recent setbacks and leave their mark over the series, and for the younger lot, the moment couldn’t be grander to graduate from boys to men!

Squads:

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

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

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal