Australia vs India Test Series – 4 Key Players Who Can Decide The Series

The world of Test cricket is full of intense rivalries, but Australia and India have been able to elevate their own personal battle by playing out a number of stunning series in recent years.

Now, the nations will battle again across a five-Test series in which the Aussies will look to show the visiting India sidewhat they are really made of in the Test arena.

Ahead of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in late November, Livecricket.io have brought together the four players that could prove decisive in a clash that should bring the new year in style.

Steve Smith – Australia

It is not a Test series for Australia without Steve Smith playing some form of role for the side.

Smith boasts 9685 runs in 195 innings at 56.97, and he will have aspirations of going past the 10,000-run mark, which is well within reach in this series. What is particularly interesting is his exploits with the bat against India.

In Australia, Smith averages a monster 83.23 in eight matches with 1082 runs scored. In India, this average dips considerably, although it still stands at a very impressive 50.31 with 805 runs scored in 10 matches.

While any batsman would be proud of averaging over 50.00 against India away from home, the fact he averages more than 30 runs less on the road is interesting. It is very important then that this series is happening on Smith’s preferred patch.

Smith hardly arrives in the kind of form we have become used to seeing from him. He has not averaged above 50.00 since 2022, with averages of 42.23 and 30.43 in 2023 and 2024 not like him.

Heaveraged just 12.75 against New Zealand in his last series, scoring 31 runs across four innings, but that was when switched to being an opener. He is expected to return to the middle-order against India.

For Australia, whether they get close to India on the series scoreboard could be heavily impacted by Smith’s exploits. Australia have a number of very impressive batsmen, but if their usually so-dependable anchor struggles, the rest of the team may struggle to shoulder the burden.

Nathan Lyon – Australia

Australia’s premier spinning option, Nathan Lyon will likely get a lot of exposure in the upcoming series and he will be key to Australia’s hopes of winning this series.

Lyon has snared a total of 530 wickets across his career with an average of 30.29. More importantly for Australia is the fact that Lyon has taken 121 Indian wickets, with 60 of these coming in Australia at just 37.12.

Even at the age of 36, Lyon has still been a major threat with the ball in hand. His 25 wickets in just five matches across the year is hugely impressive, while his current average of 17.44 in 2024 the best specific year of his career.

While the Indian batsmen will look to swat up on the pitches they will be playing on and the bowlers they will face across the five-match series, knowing how good Lyon is and stopping him from taking wickets are two very different things.

Rishabh Pant – India

The exploits of Rishabh Pant with bat and gloves will likely prove a huge factor in the winner of this series.

The Indian star has 56 innings under his belt at the age of 26, and he looks to be the real deal as India continue to search for a long-term replacement to MS Dhoni.

While filling that hole was never going to be an easy task, Pant has the skill in his all-round game to be the next big thing. With the bat, he has averaged just short of 44, while his strike rate of 90.91 across 2022 shows he scores quickly when he is given the opportunity.

Behind the stumps, Pant has snared 119 catches, while he has stumped the opposition 14 times.

The ability to juggle staying focussed behind the stumps and scoring runs is not easy. However, having the presence of wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul also in and around the team seems to be continually pushing Pant onto bigger and better performances.

Batting at five is not an easy position, but Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand ahead of the series against Australia could help him onto new levels just in time for India’s trip to Australia.

Ravichandran Ashwin – India

Ravi Ashwin may have turned 38 in 2024, but the spinner is continuing to take wickets at an impressive rate.

Of his 516 Test victims, 26 of them have come into five matches in 2024 at 22.81. This comes before the end of India’s Test series with Bangladesh, meaning the wicket-tally will likely swell further.

Much like Lyon, Ashwin will play on pitches and in conditions that will help the spinners the more the game goes on. This simply means that if the opposition can’t pick the variations and play the pitch correctly, they are in real trouble.

Ashwin’s importance will not just be confined to using the ball. A stunning century for India in the first Test against Bangladesh shows his important with the bat as Ashwin arrived with India teetering at 144/6.

Despite batting at eight, Ashwin looked like he would have been right at home in the top-order, dispatching the opposition bowlers for boundaries at will.

While Ashwin will not likely arrive for the series needing to be a consistent runs-scorer, his ability to pitch in with some runs along with a lot of wickets is vital.