Former batter Matthew Hayden stated that Australia’s home advantage “has been taken away quite a lot” in recent years ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India which will begin in November this year.
Australia won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-0 in 2014-15 and since then, they lost 2-1 in 2016-17, 2018-19, 2020-21 and 2022-23.
Not only they are yet to beat India at home in the last two series, but Australia’s fortress at Brisbane has also been breached twice in recent years. Once against India in January 2021 and then by West Indies in January this year.
"One is a day-night Test match [in Adelaide] - the second Test match," Hayden said. "Again, once you get those overhead conditions under that twilight zone, they can be really difficult [to bat on]. I would go as far as to say that the home advantage in Australia has been taken away quite a lot, simply on the basis that if you get the wrong side of a certain session, be that you're 4 for 130, at twilight you can be 8 for 150.
"So, there's no chance to naturally dominate a game. It's quite even the whole time, so it's a very different type of cricket, because you don't have those traditional surfaces."
The series will start in Perth on November 22 and Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney will host the remaining four matches.
Hayden refused to name the favourites for the Border-Gavaskar trophy as India and Australia are the top two teams at the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table and an intense showdown is expected between the two teams.
"You look at the line-ups, and it's hard to really tell who's got the edge," Hayden said. "I sense that it's going to be runs that are going to be the point of difference. So, the best need to stand up in this series; runs are going to be at a premium.
“And I also feel like the structure of the tournament being from the west to the east is a bit of the unique way that the Australian landscape of cricket is going to be played out. It's usually the other way around. It's going to be a great summer."
