The fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia will be played from today. The match will start at 9:30 am at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The last match of the Test series is very important for both the teams. India is currently leading 2-1 in the series. On winning the fourth Test, the team will win the series and also enter the final of the World Test Championship.

If Australia wins the last Test, the series will be level at 2-2. In such a situation, the trophy will remain with India, because India won the last Test series in 2020-21. But, Australia will be able to draw the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 20 years. The last time the series between the two was drawn 1-1 in Australia in 2003.

In this story, we will know the record of both the teams in Tests. We will also look at the weather condition, pitch report, possible playing XI and the equation for India to reach the WTC final…

First of all know the head to head record of both the teams in Tests…

Team India won 6 matches in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium was completed in 2021. Here Team India has played only 2 Tests so far. Before this stadium there was Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. Which has been demolished and a new stadium has been built. India played 12 Test matches at the old stadium. India played its first match here in 1983 against West Indies.

Talking about the overall record, Team India played 14 matches in Ahmedabad. Won 6 and the team got defeated in 2. India also had 6 draws in this city.

Rohit series top run scorer
Rohit Sharma is the top scorer of the series, he has scored the highest 207 runs in 3 matches. India is playing the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time under Sharma’s captaincy. India has won 2 out of 3 series, while one has faced defeat.

Jadeja top wicket taker
The 3-match series has completely belonged to the spinners of both the teams. While Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin wreaked havoc from India, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhneman from Australia have been effective. Jadeja is also the top wicket taker of the series, with 21 wickets in 3 matches.

Team India can go with Gill again
Team India fed KL Rahul with Rohit at the opening position in the first two Tests. But Shubman Gill got a chance in place of Rahul in the Indore Test. Both the batters could not do anything special in the series. It is believed that only Gill can open in the Ahmedabad Test as well.

Ishaan can also get a chance
In the fourth Test, Ishaan Kishan may get a chance in place of wicketkeeper KS Bharat. Team India’s regular Test wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been away from cricket for a long time due to the accident. His absence cost Team India a lot in the last Test when none of the batsmen could bat aggressively and India lost the Test match.

Ishaan Kishan was included in the squad as Pant’s replacement. He did not get a chance in the first 3 Tests, but after poor performance in Bharat’s batting, he can be fed in Ahmedabad Test.

Australia has a chance to level the series
Australia did not start well in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The team suffered one-sided defeats in the Nagpur and Delhi Tests. But in the Indore Test, the Kangaroo team under the captaincy of Steve Smith stunned India.

Regular Test captain Pat Cummins will also not be a part of the fourth Test due to family reasons. In such a situation, Smith will once again take charge of Australia. In India anyway he has the record of winning 2 Tests and drawing one. He has lost only 2 Tests under his captaincy here. In such a situation, his captaincy can once again be challenging for Team India.

How will India reach the WTC finals?
If India wins the Test match, India will reach the final of the WTC, but in the event of a loss or a draw, India will have to wait for the results of the New Zealand-Sri Lanka Test series. If Sri Lanka beat New Zealand 2-0 then the WTC final will be between Australia and Sri Lanka. In the event of a draw in the last Test, India will win the series but will have to wait for the results of the New Zealand-Sri Lanka Test series for the WTC final.

Prime Ministers of both countries will be present
The Prime Minister of India and Australia will also watch the Test match between the two countries at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese will reach India soon, while India’s PM Narendra Modi will go to Ahmedabad on the same day of the match. Both will see the first day’s play in the Test match. Ahmedabad’s cricket stadium is the stadium with the largest audience capacity in the world. Here one lakh 32 thousand spectators can sit together and watch the match.

PM Narendra Modi of India with PM Anthony Albanese of Australia.

pitch report
In the initial pictures, grass was seen on the pitch and water is being poured continuously on it two days ago. Looking at the pictures, it seems that the pitch in Ahmedabad will be different from the pitch found in the last 3 Tests. The pitches in the last 3 Tests were very dry, where spinners got more help and all the matches ended inside 3 days.

If the grass on the pitch remains like this on the day of the Test match, March 9, then the fast bowlers will be helped on the first day. Batters would continue to dominate until the second day. As it used to be on the old pitches in India, from the third day the pitch would start disintegrating and spinners would get aided. In such a situation, the team winning the toss would like to put a big score on the board by electing to bat first.

weather condition
The weather of Ahmedabad will be clear on March 9. it will not rain. The wind will blow at a speed of 7 kilometers per hour. The maximum temperature will be 36 degrees on all five days. In such a situation, there will be chances of quick drying of the pitch, on which the spinners will get help.

See the possible playing XI of both the teams…

India : Rohit Sharma (Captain)Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat/Ishaan Kishan (WK), Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.

Australia: Steve Smith (Captain), Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann.

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