Ashwin vs Warner and Kohli vs Lyon: Star-studded matchups to light up BGT

Steve Smith might have scored close to 9000 runs in Test cricket including as many as 30 hundreds but days ahead of the latest edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 (BGT) the batting heavyweight minced no word in admitting that winning in India "would be bigger than the Ashes."

He isn't wrong there. Australia ran riot in Ashes 2021-22, beating England 4-0. The 2019 edition ended in a draw, however, the urn was retained by Australia as they had ripped through England with another 4-0 win in 2017. On the flip side, they have been humbled and humiliated by India twice in a row. What adds injury to the wound is that India, who were at times severely deteriorated due to injuries of their key players, scripted these two histories away from - in the den of a team which at one point of time were invincible in away conditions as well.

Indian teams of the past were decorated with batters of highest orders but this team which resonates 'New India' is filled with pacers who are right into the face of the opposition, guileful spinners who have the attitudes of pacers, and a group of players capable enough to face off against an entire nation. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is apparently the most iconic red-ball series on the planet because of the quality of players involved in it. Unlike the past, it's not just Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid vs Australia. In this week of love (Valentines' week), India and Australia players will be renewing their rivalry in the purest form of cricket. Most of these rivalries are among players who have aged and matured well -- they are mentally at their strongest and most probably aiming to add another glorious chapter before they hang their boots and watch the highlights of their wizardry.

Ashwin vs Warner

One of the most intelligent cricketers to play the game versus most gusty opener to wear the Baggy Green. Ravichandran Ashwin's love for left-handers isn't a hidden fact. In 88 Test matches, he has taken 225 wickets at an economy of 2.45 and an average of 19.2 against left-hand batters. Six out of ten Australia batters including all-rounders and wicket-keepers touring India are southpaws. The number one ranked Test team in the world would be wary of the Ashwin threat. Someone like Warner might be going through sleepless nights even on the thought of facing the 36-year-old tweaker. Ashwin, who is one shy of 450 Test scalps, has dismissed Warner 10 times in 12 matches. Warner averages as low as 18.2 against the third ranked Test bowler in the world.

Since 2017, Ashwin has picked 95 wickets at an average of 19.89 against the left-handers. Warner, on the other hand, averaged 38.37 in 2021 and 30.05 in 2022. Two months ago in the Boxing Day Test match against South Africa last year, Warner slammed a double hundred while playing in his 100th Test match. Warner often referred as 'The Bull' in the cricketing circles is known to script massive comebacks and face the challenges head on. His record against Ashwin and Test average of 24.25 in India is something the 36-year-old would be looking to improve in understandably his last few Test matches in the subcontinent nation.

Ashwin vs Smith

From one major battle to another, from one Australia legend to another, however, Ashwin remains the constant. Steve Smith is going through a purple patch once again and he has scored two hundreds including one double and a fifty in his last five Test matches. The 33-year-old has played 14 Test matches against India and scored 1742 runs at an average of 72.58. The former Australia captain has hit eight hundreds (three in India in six matches) and five fifties against an opposition he loves playing against. Ashwin has 89 Test wickets against Australia - the most he has picked against a Test playing nation.

However, the second ranked Test batter in the world will have the challenge of keeping Ashwin, the third-ranked Test bowler at bay. Ashwin has got the better of Smith six times in the 12 matches the two have locked horns against each other. At the same time, Smith averages a handy 68.7 against the off-spinner. Both these players have a knack of getting under the skin of the opposition. For now, Ashwin has already made room into the heads of the Australian batters. 21-year-old spinner Mahesh Pithiya, who has been labelled as 'Ravichandran Ashwin impersonator’ due to his uncannily similar bowling action to the India veteran.

Kohli vs Lyon

Virat Kohli left the Indian camp after India's shattering defeat after 36 all-out in the second innings of the first Test during the last season of BGT in 2020-21. The former captain has bounced back in form with a handful of hundreds in white-ball cricket but is yet to stamp back his authority in red-ball cricket. Since his last hundred in Test cricket, he has played 36 innings and scored 917 runs at an average of 26.20. Since the start of 2020, Kohli has played seven Test matches in India and scored 289 runs at an average of 26.27.

The modern day batting great had his share of problems against spin bowling. Left-arm spinners got his wicket thrice in nine innings in 2021. The same was the result in 2022. Off-spinners dismissed him four times in eight innings in 2021. In 2022, they grabbed the precious wicket of Kohli twice in six innings.

Australia veteran Nathan Lyon will be fancying his chance once against his arch-nemesis. The off-spinner, who has 460 Test wickets in total and 94 in 22 matches against India, has sent Kohli back in the pavilion seven times - the joint-most in Test cricket alongside James Anderson. Overall, Kohli has scored 410 runs in 17 matches at an average of 58.6 against the 35-year-old. Kohli, scored his maiden Test hundred against Australia back in 2012. The swashbuckling right-hander would be aiming to end his Test century drought with his eight against the opposition. Lyon (34 wickets in seven matches in India) would look to prolong King's wait.

Pujara vs Cummins and Hazlewood

Express pacers are dreadful of players like Cheteshwar Pujara. Not many like Pujara are left in world cricket. In fact, there is a great chance that the Saurashtra star is the last of the purists in Test cricket. To face fifty drought balls in a row and gearing up for the 51st, getting hit all over the body in toughest batting conditions without flinching, going to county cricket and hitting hundreds for fun to script a national comeback are stuffs only Pujara - the last of his kind can do. The 35-year-old loves batting against Australia and has scored his maximum runs against them. In the 20 matches he has played against Australia, he has scored 1893 runs at an average of 54.08. With just two matches away from his 100th Test, Pujara would be aiming to make the moment big.

He has anchored India's innings in the previous two BGT with perfection. Pujara amassed 521 runs on the 2018-19 tour of Australia. He backed that up with utterly precious 271 runs off 928 balls (second-highest for India) on the 2020-21 tour. In his third attempt spinners could be the threat but it's the Australian pacers he could be watchful of.

Australia captain Pat Cummins dismissed Pujara five times in the last series. In total, he has picked out Pujara seven times in 10 matches. The Indian number three averages 24.6 against Cummins. Further, Josh Hazlewood has dismissed the right-hander six times. Pujara averages 39.7 versus Hazlewood.