Border-Gavaskar trophy: Players who can make debut during India vs Australia Test series

The 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is only a couple of days away, with the Optus Stadium in Perth hosting the first Test between Australia and India from 22 November (Friday). India have emerged victorious during their last two Test tours of Australia, and this time, the visitors have an uphill task of overcoming Pat Cummins and Co, with the upcoming Test series being a five-match affair.

A spot in the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final is also at stake, with India needing to beat Australia by at least a margin of 4-0 to directly qualify for the summit clash at Lord’s next June.

BGT schedule 2024-25 | IND vs AUS Test Series, Full Schedule, Dates, Venues, and Squads

While seniors like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be expected to shine Down Under, this series also provides an opportunity for youngsters to make their mark in Test cricket.

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Having said that, we take a look at young players who could make their Test debut in the upcoming series:

Abhimanyu Easwaran (India)

Top-order batter Abhimanyu Easwaran has impressed in the Indian domestic circuit recently. He scored a couple of centuries for India B in the Duleep Trophy in September, and followed it up with a knock of 191 for Rest of India against Mumbai in the Irani Cup in October. Later in October, he scored an unbeaten 127 in the second innings for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Uttar Pradesh.

With Rohit Sharma reportedly set to miss the first Test following the birth of his second child, that provides Abhimanyu a window of opportunity to make his Test debut in Perth.

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Nitish Kumar Reddy (India)

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy entered the limelight with his stellar performances with the bat in IPL 2024, where he scored 303 runs from 13 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). What makes Nitish a formidable choice is his ability to play under pressure situations during a match, as was seen in the IPL this year. He bowls right-arm medium pace, and took three wickets in IPL 2024 but the numbers merely do not tell the full story.

Nitish made his T20I debut for India against Bangladesh in October, and featured in all three matches against the Tigers, scoring 90 runs and taking three wickets, including a knock of 74 in the second match.

Harshit Rana (India)

A 22-year-old right-arm pacer from Delhi, Harshit Rana has impressed in the Indian domestic cricket circuit recently.

He took eight wickets for India D in the Duleep Trophy, and followed it up with a five-fer and a knock of 59 against Assam in a Ranji Trophy match in October. Like Nitish, Harshit, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, impressed in IPL 2024, taking 19 wickets from 13 matches.

Josh Inglis (Australia)

Josh Inglis is a wicketkeeper-batter who is a permanent figure in Australia’s limited-overs squads. And come the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Inglis will be hoping to make his Test debut for Australia. Inglis recently made a case for his potential Test debut with a century for Western Australia against Tasmania in a Sheffield Shield match in October.

George Bailey, Australia’s chief selector, however, has said that they were not looking at Inglis as an opener following David Warner’s retirement. “Not in the short-term. I don’t think that he’s someone we would be looking to place at the top of the order,” Bailey told reporters recently.

Nathan McSweeney (Australia)

Nathan McSweeney is another Australia player who could make his Tet debut. McSweeney is set to open along with Usman Khawaja and the former will definitely have his task cut out. McSweeney scored an unbeaten 88 for Australia A against India A in the first unofficial Test, but he did not open in that match. He opened in the second unofficial Test and scored 14 and 25 runs across both the innings. In October, McSweeney scored 55 and an unbeaten 127 for South Australia in their Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales.