Left-handed opener Usman Khawaja has claimed that the Indian cricket team derives immense satisfaction from beating Australia, regardless of the format.
His comments came ahead of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) between the two teams Down Under.
India have won the last two Test series on Australian soil, while they have held onto the coveted trophy since March 2017.
"We're world number one, world number two teams really over the last two years. We were there at the last World Test Championship together. The rivalry has always been huge. I take it as a sign of respect and I know it that Indians love beating Australia in any sort of form of cricket.
“And the tradition that Australia has had over so many years as being one of the dominating teams in world cricket has staked that reputation. I think, yeah, for Indians it's always been the case to beat Australia. And more recently, you know, since the rise of India and IPL and everything else that happened, it's the same way with Australia against India. And particularly since India's beaten Australia in Australia the last two times they've come out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It just means a little bit more,” said Khawaja to Star Sports, as per IANS.
The marquee series is slated to get underway on November 22 in Perth and the action will then shift to Adelaide, where both teams will face each other in a Day-Night Test. The last three Tests are set to take place in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Australia’s leading pacer Josh Hazlewood expressed his determination to reclaim the trophy this time around.
"Yeah Probably sums it up there, toughest rivalry. It’s always a great challenge playing against India, and they are so used to the conditions out here, they love it. You know in Australia the challenge is huge. They’re batting their top order, no matter who’s playing, is unbelievable, their top six or seven. I played them in my debut series, obviously, and we got the win, that might have been the last time. A lot of the same players are still playing, I think I got Virat that game.
"So a lot of our players, I guess, haven’t beaten India in a test series. The guys were playing, such as Travis Head, Cameron Green, guys like that. So, yeah, huge summer for us coming up and hopefully get that trophy back," he said.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh sees the upcoming series as an opportunity to further develop the longer format of the game.
"I think it's just the cricket that's been played between the two teams. If you look at the history, the recent history, we've won stuff, they've won stuff. And I think that when it's back and forth like that, it builds that rivalry within yourselves."
“You know there’s great friendships in the Indian team with our team, so there’s no hatred. But it’s a great on field rivalry, both teams want to win. And Australia versus India, it’s another opportunity to grow the game of cricket. Not that cricket needs growing in India, but worldwide. People tune into these big series."
