India head coach Gautam Gambhir believes mental toughness and the ability to absorb pressure will hold the key for India’s young batting lineup when they go up against Australia’s formidable bowling attack in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, to be played from January 21 to March 3, 2027. India last won the series at home in 2023 by 2-1. Australia’s marquee bowling group comprising Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon will take a stern examination of the Indian batters when the games take place in Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad.
Because playing against Australia at home, and obviously it wasn’t the best when we went to Australia, that is probably one thing which I’m absolutely looking forward to,.
The more pressure you absorb, and the more pressure you embrace, it’s going to give yourself the best chance,” said Gambhir to JioStar ahead of the start of India’s home season via three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies. “Looking forward to it. And for me, I think it is going to be India versus Australia, but before that, it is New Zealand. But the other challenge against Australia will be their experienced bowling attack. “More importantly, in Test cricket, it’s about the skill, but it’s about how mentally strong and how much pressure you can absorb.
“But you could see that in Sri Lanka, we played two Test matches, and we got more than 400 runs in both the innings. We went 10 days before the Test match, we could prepare playing spin, and then you could see the results as well. Watch the three-match ODI Series of the West Indies tour of India, from September 27 to October 3, 2 PM onwards, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network
That’s why I said, a strong Test-cricketing nation is going to be a strong cricketing nation. And the reason was that we prepared extremely well. “The thing is, I’m not going to give any excuses, but that’s the reality. When we played the Test series against South Africa, we were coming after playing a T20 series from Australia. I remember coming from Brisbane, and then we reached Calcutta. We had two practice sessions, and we were straightaway into the Test match against South Africa. “Against the West Indies, obviously we did manage to win that series, but we came after winning the Asia Cup, and we had two days of practice sessions in Ahmedabad, and we were right straight into the Test match and now you could see the difference. “Also, how much value a young generation or the new guys coming in gives that red-ball cricket is going to be key. When it comes to Manav and Dev, I think they value Test cricket, they’re disciplined, hungry, and prepare really well.
And we had two days before the first Test match.
