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India faced a crushing defeat at the hands of Australia in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 in Indore last week. The visitors showed great character, coming back from 2-0 down in the series under stand-in captain Steve Smith.
The hosts were bundled out for just 109 in their first innings and many would argue that the game was lost then and there. India played catch-up for almost the entire game, but just couldn't quite recover from the damage caused by their batting in the first innings.
The pitch in Ahmedabad for the final Test is reportedly a lot better for batting, but the batters from both teams will have certain match-ups playing on their minds.
On that note, let's take a look at three such match-ups that could probably decide if the hosts can seal the series 3-1:
#3 Virat Kohli vs Matthew Kunhemann
Virat Kohli's wait for a big score in Tests continues as he has once again failed to convert his starts into big scores. At times, Kohli has looked like the most solid batter in the Indian batting line-up. In the previous Test, Kohli looked comfortable at the crease but was dismissed against the run of play on both occasions.
Kohli has scored just 111 runs in this series so far, out of which 30 have been off the bowling of left-arm spinner Matthew Kunhemann. However, the young spinner has already dismissed the former captain twice. This will certainly give Kuhnemann some confidence when he bowls to Kohli in Ahmedabad.
#2 Marnus Labuschagne vs Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja's no-ball to Marnus Labuschagne proved to be very costly for India in the previous Test. But that doesn't change the fact that the No.1-ranked Test batter has struggled against the No.1-ranked Test all-rounder.
Labuschagne has found it tough to read Jadeja's length as he has often ended up playing a fuller delivery on the back foot. This misjudgment has already seen Jadeja dismiss him four times in this series and five times overall in Tests. Jadeja will back himself to dominate Labuschagne and keep him quiet in the fourth Test.
#1 Rohit Sharma vs Nathan Lyon
Nathan Lyon has been arguably Australia's best bowler against Rohit Sharma in this series so far. Rohit scored an incredible hundred in Nagpur and showed arguably the best application in the conditions among all the specialist batters in the hosts' lineup.
However, Lyon has dismissed Rohit twice in the series already. The manner in which the latter was dismissed on both occasions was similar as he failed to read the length The veteran off-spinner also won the Player of the Match in the third Test and will be absolutely pumped up to ensure he keeps his form going.
Having already dismissed Rohit Sharma a staggering eight times in Tests, Lyon will want to increase that tally. Rohit, on the other hand, will also not want to hold back as he loves taking down spinners irrespective of the format.
