Australia have a chance to beat India this time around: Jason Gillespie

India have won the last four Test series against Australia, including two Down Under, but Pakistan’s Test coach Jason Gillespie is backing Pat Cummins and Co. to topple the Men in Blue in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 

Gillespie feels Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have what it takes to beat India in the five-match Test series, starting on November 22 in Perth. “I will be backing them to do the job,” Gillespie told Fox Sports.

“They are the best bowlers in the country. I think their records speak for themselves. This quartet is the best possible bowling attack that Australia can put out in the park.”

Australia last won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014-15. Since then, they have lost twice at home. On both occasions, India won the series by a margin of 2-1 (2018-19 and 2020-21).

“They [India\ are red-hot, they are playing some good test cricket for a while now. Even though they have beaten Australia in recent times. I think Australia have a chance to beat India this time around.”

Talking about Steven Smith’s batting spot, the former Australia seamer said, “Players like David Warner are pretty tough to replace. I didn’t mind the idea of Steve Smith going up in the order. I have a feeling that he might have slot back in the middle order to bat at 4.”

India are currently set to play a two-match Test series against Bangladesh, the same opponent who whitewashed Pakistan in Pakistan only a couple of weeks back. That was Gillespie’s first assignment as Pakistan’s red-ball coach.

“It was pretty disappointing, you want to win games at cricket. We prepared well, but we were just beaten by a better team. We got a lot of work to do and there is no doubt about that,” he said.

“There was a lot of disappointment around the country but there was also an acceptance and understanding that change is needed. We need to be patient. There is a real appetite of stability, hopefully, we can secure that.”

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