Australia vs India, Test series: Records that can be broken
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 starts from November 22 onward in Perth's Optus Stadium. It will be followed by a day-night Test in Adelaide from December 6-10. The Gabba (December 14-18), MCG (December 26-30) and SCG (December 2-6) will host the remaining games. Notably, India have beaten the Aussies on their last two tours. Ahead of the series, we decode the key milestones on offer.
Second Indian player with 2,500-plus runs against Australia
As per ESPNcricinfo, Virat Kohli owns 2,042 runs versus Australia at 47.48. He has smashed 8 tons and five fifties. Kohli can surpass Cheteshwar Pujara (2,074), Rahul Dravid (2,143) and VVS Laxman (2,434) in terms of runs against the Aussies. Kohli is 458 shy of 2,500 runs against Australia. Only Sachin Tendulkar (3,630) has over 2,500 runs as an Indian against Australia.
Steve Smith can join Ponting in this illustrious list
Steve Smith owns 2,042 runs against India from 19 matches at 65.87 (100s: 9, 50s: 5). Smith is 458 runs shy of becoming just the 2nd Aussie batter to smash 2,500-plus runs versus India. Ricky Ponting leads the show in this regard, having scored 2,555 runs against India. Smith (9) needs three centuries to become the highest centurion in AUS-IND matches, surpassing Sachin (10).
Smith is closing in on 5,000 runs at home
Smith has managed 4,701 runs at home, averaging 62.68. He needs 299 runs in the upcoming series to register a mark of 5,000. Smith has 16 tons and 19 fifties at home. Notably, 1,082 of his runs at home have come versus India.
Rahul on verge of completing 3,000 Test runs
In his career, India's KL Rahul has piled up 2,981 runs at an average of 33.87 from 53 matches (91 innings). In addition to 8 hundreds, he has clobbered 15 fifties. His strike rate is 53.07.
Starc eyes 50 scalps versus India
Mitchell Starc is two shy of registering 50 wickets against India. He will become the 8th Aussie bowler to do so. Overall, Starc owns 358 scalps at 27.74. He is in line to surpass Daniel Vettori (362), Imran Khan (362) and Waqar Younis (373) in terms of Test wickets. Mohammed Siraj owns 240 wickets in First-Class cricket. He is 10 shy of 250 scalps.
Usman Khawaja aims for these dual milestones
Aussie opener Usman Khawaja owns 5,451 runs and is just 49 shy of the 5,500-run mark. He averages 45.80. Khawaja is also closing in on 14,500 FC runs. He owns 14,337 runs at 44.52.
