Australian Cricketers in for a Bouncy Challenge as Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Gets Underway

The highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 is set to begin on November 22 at Optus Stadium, Perth, with Western Australia Cricket head curator Isaac McDonald predicting a challenging series for Australian batsmen. The surface, which has been prepared in anticipation of the tournament, promises good amount of pace and bounce, a scenario that could prove particularly tormenting for batsmen.

McDonald is drawing inspiration from his experience preparing the pitch for last year's series against Pakistan. Although he acknowledges it wouldn't be easy for visitors to dominate their hosts, McDonald expressed confidence that Australians would thrive on the surface by tackling the pacers aggressively.

"It's [10 mm] a good starting point," MacDonald said. "Ten millimetres was pretty comfortable with the conditions we had last year and that helped the conditions together nicely for the first few days."

However, not everyone finds the prospect appealing. Pakistani opener Imam-ul-Haq expressed trepidation when facing the Australian pacers in a practice game at Perth, admitting that their pace could prove troublesome.

Marnus Labuschagne too was one of the batters who experienced the full force of the visiting pacers last year and is already aware of the demands posed by this particular surface.