Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Five major records that could be broken during 1st Test between India and Australia

The highly anticipated first Test of the four-match series between India and Australia will take place at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 9. The 2023 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is of great importance to both sides, as their chances of making it to the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2021–23 hinge on the outcome of the next four matches. 

The Aussies come into this series on the back of a string of impressive results in red-ball cricket, while India have not lost a red-ball assignment at home in over a decade.

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With a plethora of star players taking the field during the four-Test series, many records are poised to be broken, with some of them potentially falling as early as the first Test. 

Take a closer look at five records that could be broken during the highly anticipated first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

1. Virat Kohli is just 64 runs away from becoming the sixth player in history to reach 25,000 runs in international cricket. The 34-year-old right-handed batsman has played a total of 490 matches, amassing an impressive 24936 runs at an average of 53.74. To date, only Sachin Tendulkar has achieved the feat of scoring 25,000 or more runs in international matches for India. This is a remarkable accomplishment for Kohli, and if he reaches the milestone, he will join an elite group of cricketers who have achieved this remarkable feat.

2. Australian batsman Steve Smith has the opportunity to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s century record in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy if he can notch a century in the first Test. To date, Smith has scored 8 centuries in 28 innings across 14 Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while Sachin has 9 triple-digit scores in 34 Tests. If Smith can hit centuries in both innings, he will break Sachin’s record.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin, the star off-spinner, needs just one more wicket to reach a milestone of 450 in Test cricket. If he manages to take a wicket in the upcoming Test match, he will become the fastest Indian bowler to reach this impressive feat in Test cricket history.

4. Nathan Lyon is on the brink of making history. With 94 wickets in 22 Test matches against India, he needs just six more wickets in the first Test to become only the third bowler in history to take 100 or more Test wickets against India. If he succeeds, he will join Indian legend Anil Kumble as the only bowlers to have achieved a century of wickets in the Border-Gavaskar Test series. 

5. Cheteshwar Pujara has amassed an impressive 1893 runs in 20 matches against Australia, and if he can notch up at least 107 runs in the Nagpur Test, he will become the fourth Indian and sixth batter overall to reach the milestone of 2000 or more runs in the Border-Gavaskar Series. This would be a remarkable achievement for Pujara, who has been a stalwart of the Indian batting lineup for many years.

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