3 player battles to watch-out for in 2nd BGT 2024-25 Test ft. Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Mitchell Starc

Bowlers triumphed over batters in the most dominant fashion when Australia last hosted India in a pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Everyone remembers 36-all-out but it took only around 165 overs (less than two days) for the first 40 wickets to fall in the Test.

It's scary to imagine what will happen on Friday, at the same venue, in the second Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. For, in the four years since 36-all-out, both India and Australia have developed a plethora of batting issues -- against pace and spin, in confidence, and in batting order stability.

Below, we'll look at three key battles between batters and bowlers which might define the contest.

---

#3 Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Mitchell Starc

Yashasvi Jaiswal earned the right for an honorable mention in the history of India-Australia historic Test moments by calling Mitchell Starc "slow" in Perth. Starc had earlier told Harshit Rana that he was quicker than the Indian debutant and won't "forget" how he was bowling to him.

Starc, much like his bowling on the day, was quite benign to the Indians. But the visitors shouldn't expect him to be like that again in Adelaide -- he's a confidence bowler, who gets better and better as he picks up wickets and in pink-ball Tests, he's the highest-ever wicket-taker.

Starc loves bowling with the pink ball because it offers him swing and the batters find it difficult to sight it well in some phases, which makes his left-arm angle more threatening. Jaiswal would face his biggest test of the summer in Adelaide against him.

The Indian opener had a tough first innings but made a couple of changes in the second -- most importantly, he shelved his front foot shots until he got set. Starc would try to make him break the stride in Adelaide but bowling it full, making it swing and inviting drives and flicks; if Jaiswal isn't prepared and patient, he'll almost certainly get found out.

An early wicket of last match's highest run-scorer would give Australia momentum and India will know they can't afford that against the pink-ball. Another defining game, thus, awaits India's rising star.

---

#2 Scott Boland vs Shubman Gill

India will be glad Shubman Gill is returning back into the 11. He's extremely important at number three apart from being one of the better players to counter the extra bounce and nip in Australia.

However, he'll face a massive challenge in the name of Scott Boland, the right-arm quick who's replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood for this Test. Boland took Gill's wicket twice in the World Test Championship Final in England and would have his tails up with the pink-ball, with which he averages under 18.

Gill is making an injury comeback but is in form, having scored a half-century in the recent warm-up game. Boland, meanwhile, will play his first Test after months, having spent most of this year recovering from an ankle injury.

Boland played a couple of red-ball games before this series and looked a touch off-rhythm. Australia would rely heavily on him to assume control in Hazlewood's absence. Gill's slight susceptibility against wobbled-seam deliveries but willingness to play with high scoring intent would make it a popcorn-worthy battle against the speedster.

---

#1 Jasprit Bumrah vs Marnus Labuschagne

Why not Jasprit Bumrah against Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja or Travid Head? Why Marnus Labuschagne when he seemed like he couldn't buy a run in Perth and now looks only another couple of failures away from being dropped?

That's because Labuschagne is an absolute beast against the pink-ball. In just 14 innings of day-night Tests, he has 894 runs at an average of 63.85; the second highest is Smith with 760 runs in seven extra innings while the next best average for anyone with over 500 runs is 49.36.

He also has four centuries in pink-ball Tests when no one else even has three. There's something about the hard zipping leather that brings out the best in him -- if there's one game India need to be extremely vary of the Australian number three, it's this one.

India will look at their biggest weapon, Bumrah, to handle him. He could've had Labuschagne for a golden duck if not for a dropped catch but made up for it by getting him for 3 (5) in the second innings.

Bumrah averages 14.50 with the pink ball but he has played just three Tests -- how he fares here would be interesting to see. The seam and swing should suit his game even more than Perth but Labuschagne would likely come at it more aggressively than Perth as well -- a proper fire vs fire contest.