With one eye on the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC), Team India will lock horns with Australia in the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur on Thursday. Both the teams are in contention for the WTC finals and a positive result for either side will help them consolidate the berth for the summit clash, which will be played at Oval later this year.
Team India, who have won the previous three editions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, will head into the series as favourites, considering the home conditions. The chatter ahead of the blockbuster clash between the two heavyweights have been on the pitch, with few ex-Australian players even accusing India of “doctoring” it.
Reacting to the sensational allegations, the Indian cricket fraternity led by batting legend Sunil Gavaskar criticised Australia's stance. However, those were talks outside the pitch, while skippers of both the teams - Rohit Sharma, Pat Cummins - didn't make much fuss about the conditions and urged everyone to focus on cricket.
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The series will also see a healthy competition between two modern-era greats - Virat Kohli and Steve Smith, who would look to stamp their authority on the field right from the word go. Kohli has been enjoying supreme form, but will look for a much-improved show in the longer format. Smith, on the other hand, boasts of an incredible record against India, accumulating 1742 runs from 14 matches at an average of 72.58.
Ahead of the series opener, Smith said that there is no sense of competition between him and Kohli. “No, I don't think so. I'm not sure whether he thinks there is or not. I'm not entirely sure that I certainly feel like. We just go out and play the game and try and do the best for our team. Yeah, hopefully, score some runs along the way to help us have success. That's the main goal for me. I don't feel like I'm batting against anyone or anything like that and trying to compare myself to any other batters. I just wanna go out there and do my job and hopefully help the team have success,” Smith said for Hindustan Times online, the transcript of which was shared by Star Sports, official broadcaster of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
{{/usCountry}}Ahead of the series opener, Smith said that there is no sense of competition between him and Kohli. “No, I don't think so. I'm not sure whether he thinks there is or not. I'm not entirely sure that I certainly feel like. We just go out and play the game and try and do the best for our team. Yeah, hopefully, score some runs along the way to help us have success. That's the main goal for me. I don't feel like I'm batting against anyone or anything like that and trying to compare myself to any other batters. I just wanna go out there and do my job and hopefully help the team have success,” Smith said for Hindustan Times online, the transcript of which was shared by Star Sports, official broadcaster of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
{{/usCountry}}Smith also lauded Kohli's masterclass with the bat but hoped the run machine doesn't score too many against them in the four matches. “I think the way he's able to take the bowlers on, really put them under pressure. I think that's a huge strength of his. He scored runs all around the world. His ability is to score both sides of the wicket. He's patient when he needs to be and he's been an amazing player for a very long time in all formats of the game. So, hopefully for us, this series, he doesn't score too many. But you know, when he gets going, he is one of the best batters to watch in the world,” said Smith.