Every Series Important: Gautam Gambhir Ahead Of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

As the Border-Gavaskar Trophy draws near, with Team India needing a significant win to secure a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, head coach Gautam Gambhir emphasized that the team is focused on the immediate challenge rather than the long-term goal. "Not looking at WTC. Every series is important irrespective of what's happened in the past. Keen to go and perform well," Gambhir said.

He further added, "I think it's two good teams competing. We will go and try to win the series."

India’s path to the WTC final has become more complicated following their heavy defeat to New Zealand at home. After a 3-0 series whitewash, India must now win the series by a 4-0 margin to secure a spot in the WTC final for the third consecutive time.

The series will begin with the opening Test in Perth, followed by a day-night match in Adelaide from December 6 to 10. The third Test will take place at The Gabba in Brisbane from December 14 to 18. The traditional Boxing Day Test will be held at Melbourne's iconic MCG from December 26 to 30, and the series will conclude with the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7.

India's squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, and Washington Sundar.

Australia's squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, and Mitchell Starc.

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