Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25: Top three reasons why India lost the Boxing Day Test vs Australia

India’s worst form in Test matches continued even in the final Test match of 2024- the most-hyped Boxing Day Test match. After a whitewash against New Zealand at home in the three-match bilateral series, the stakes were high for India in Australia. India had to win the Border Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 or 4-1 to ensure their qualification for the World Test Championship 2023-2025 final.

With the defeat in the Boxing Day Test, India can go for a 2-2 draw, assuming they win the game against Australia in Sydney. India’s hopes of reaching the final is currently hanging by a thread as they also have to rely a lot on Sri Lanka to win the upcoming Test series against the Aussies. 

Amidst these World Test Championship final calculations, there is huge scrutiny over India’s performance against Australia in the Boxing Day Test match. The visitors had not lost in the last 12 years but surrendered to the Australians on the fifth day of the fourth test match. On that note, let's analyze the top three reasons why India lost the Boxing Day Test match. 

Three reasons why India lost the Boxing Day Test: 

1. Poor performance from the Indian veterans 

The less said, the better. India’s two veteran players, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have looked completely out of sorts in the last couple of Test series and they have let the team down again in the Melbourne Test. Virat Kohli showed a glimmer of hope with a century at Perth, helping India to a victory. However, since then, he has not crossed thirty more than once and has crossed double digits only twice in the last five innings. Even against New Zealand, he struggled for consistency. 

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma, opened the innings, tinkering the well-set Jaiswal -Rahul combo only to let down the team. He scored only 12 runs across both innings, thereby, continuing his horror show. He has crossed double-digit score only on one occasion, with the highest score in this series being 10. With increasing age and more young players rising to the occasion, it seems to be the curtains for the Indian skipper at the end of the Test series in Australia. 

2. Absence of bowling partner to Jasprit Bumrah 

While few batsmen in India have got the shoutouts to be the next Sachin Tendulkar, there have been very few bowlers who have attained the legendary status. One such bowler, who has gone on to break multiple records with unique bowling action, picking wickets at ease, is Jasprit Bumrah. The 31-year-old fast bowler continues to be a nightmare for the opposition across all formats and during the Boxing Day Test match, he reached the 200-wicket milestone. He reached the feat at an outstanding average of 19.58. 

Bumrah, however, hasn't got enough support from the other bowlers. In the first innings, Mohammad Siraj went wicketless whereas Akash Deep and Ravindra Jadeja were late to the party even though they picked wickets. In the second innings, Akash Deep went wicketless, forcing the captain to use Jasprit Bumrah time and again. At one point, the stump mic caught the premier fast bowler seeking respite saying he cannot bowl one more over to break the Lyon-Boland partnership that delayed the start of the fourth innings. 

3. Lack of in-game management

While the above reasons go on at a personal level, one thing India got wrong in the Test match was the in-game management. It all started from uninspiring captaincy from Rohit Sharma, who solely relied on Jasprit Bumrah to pick wickets. 

As the ball got older, the Australian batters were able to counter the fast bowlers effectively. Also, the field setting was defensive even as no 9, 10, and 11 of the Australians extended the lead. From 91-6, Australia ballooned their score to 234, taking the game out of India’s reach. 

Jaiswal's three dropped catches in Australia's second innings also helped Marnus Labuschagne score important runs for the team. Alongside these, after a good second session on Day 5, Rishabh Pant got tempted and got out to part-timer Travis Head, allowing Australia to get back into the game. Rishabh Pant also did execute a poor shot in the first inning putting Team India in trouble before Nitish Kumar Reddy bailed the team out of danger.