Celebrating his 53rd birthday on October 29, former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden has predicted a victory for the hosts in the coming Border Gavaskar Trophy (BG) Down Under, but not without a tough fight from the visiting Indian team led by Rohit Sharma.
India, who registered series wins on their last two Test tours of Australia, will defend the BGT over a series of five Tests beginning with the first match in Perth from November 24.
“I say Australia is going to win but I’ll also say this: Watch Team India go!” said Hayden in a Start Sports video.
The former opening batsman believes that Australia no longer enjoy a home advantage because of the drop-in pitches utilized by Cricket Australia over the past few years.
Of the five venues where this edition of the BGT will be played, three will have drop-in pitches.
“I feel like there’s less home advantage given the nature of the drop-in wickets than what had been previously there,” said Hayden. “There are three drop-in venues — Perth, Adelaide, and the MCG (Melbourne).”
Adelaide will host the day-night second Test from December 6, while MCG will be home for the fourth Test, beginning on Boxing Day (December 26). The fifth Test in Sydney will start on January 3, 2025.
“So you’ve got your two home venues in Brisbane and Sydney; those just happen to be the third and fifth Test match, which is a very different combination to any series that’s been played there,” Hayden added.
“I feel like at the moment there is probably not that much home advantage in the Australian summer anymore due to the wicket conditions.”
Before the start of the series, India will engage in a three-day warm-up match against India A that will be touring Australia at the same time.