Australian cricketer Pat Cummins seems to not have gotten over repeat Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) losses to India in recent years. The veteran pacer recently revealed that his team’s 2018 BGT loss to India hurt more than another defeat in 2021.
India has been on a rout in the BGT for several seasons and look set to field a strong side for the next event. Team India will travel to Australia and begin their next BGT campaign from late November 2024. However, Cummins can’t shake off having to stomach defeats from the Men in Blue at home on separate occasions.
“I actually thought that the series before was worse. We got completely beaten. Whereas that series (2020-21) was quite tightly fought, I thought, and they played fantastically well to win at the Gabba. Whereas before, we were completely outplayed. That one hurt more for me,” he said during a recent YouTube podcast.
India is set to go Down Under for the BGT 2024/25 and could cause Pat nightmares once again.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018/19 Series Result Summary
| Date | Match | Location | India Scores | Australia Scores | Result |
| Thu, 06 Dec 2018 | 1st Test | Adelaide | 250 & 307 | (Target: 323) 235 & 291 | India won by 31 runs |
| Fri, 14 Dec 2018 | 2nd Test | Perth | 283 & 140 | (Target: 287) 326 & 243 | Australia won by 146 runs |
| Wed, 26 Dec 2018 | 3rd Test | Melbourne | 443/7d & 106/8d | (Target: 399) 151 & 261 | India won by 137 runs |
| Thu, 03 Jan 2019 | 4th Test | Sydney | 622/7d | (Follow-on) 300 & 6/0 | Match drawn |
Key Moments at the 2018 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
1st Test: Adelaide (December 6–10, 2018)
Cheteshwar Pujara was among the heavy-hitters in India’s 1st innings (123 runs). Pujara anchoring the innings gave Team India a winning chance as other batsmen struggled. However, Aussie bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood all took multiple scalps.
Australia’s first innings was a roaring reply of 235 runs to beat India’s set target; however, the Aussie struggled to dominate pacers from the opposing team. Veteran Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma contained Australia’s batting attack and split 7 wickets for their effort.
2nd Test: Perth (December 14–18, 2018)
Australia bounced back from their first Test loss to post 326 runs with Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris both clinching half centuries. However, India’s Jasprit Bumrah put on a great show to restrict Aussie bowlers from causing further harm.
Virat Kohli stepped up to smash home 123 runs from 257 balls to give India a boost to the overall runs. However, India ended up missing the set target by 142 runs, giving the hosts a 141-run victory.
3rd Test: Melbourne (December 26–30, 2018)
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli were among the big hitters again as India ran away 137-run winners in the 3rd Test. Mayank Agarwal also posted a remarkable century to boost the visitors’ total score.
Top 5 Run-Scorers at the 2018 B-G Trophy
Three Indian cricketers topped the run-scoring charts after the series finale in 2019. Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, and Virat Kohli scored more than Marcus Harris and Travis Head who rounded up the top five.
| Player | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
| Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) | 4 | 7 | – | 521 | 193 | 74.42 | 1258 | 41.41 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 2 |
| Rishabh Pant (IND) | 4 | 7 | 1 | 350 | 159* | 58.33 | 473 | 73.99 | 1 | – | 31 | 5 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 4 | 7 | – | 282 | 123 | 40.28 | 684 | 41.22 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 1 |
| Marcus Harris (AUS) | 4 | 8 | 1 | 258 | 79 | 36.85 | 497 | 51.91 | – | 2 | 29 | 0 |
| Travis Head (AUS) | 4 | 7 | – | 237 | 72 | 33.85 | 554 | 42.77 | – | 2 | 21 | 0 |
Top 5 Wicket-Takers at the 2018 B-G Trophy
Jasprit Bumrah combined with Mohammed Shami to deliver tough pace attacks against Australian batsmen. Both cricketers join Aussies Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood in the top five wicket-takers at the 2018 BGT.
| Player | Mat | Inns | Balls | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4 | 5 |
| Jasprit Bumrah (IND) | 4 | 8 | 943 | 157.1 | 48 | 357 | 21 | 6/33 | 17.00 | 2.27 | 44.90 | – | 1 |
| Nathan Lyon (AUS) | 4 | 7 | 1453 | 242.1 | 35 | 639 | 21 | 6/122 | 30.42 | 2.63 | 69.19 | 1 | 2 |
| Mohammed Shami (IND) | 4 | 8 | 820 | 136.4 | 28 | 419 | 16 | 6/56 | 26.18 | 3.06 | 51.25 | – | 1 |
| Pat Cummins (AUS) | 4 | 7 | 870 | 145.0 | 29 | 389 | 14 | 6/27 | 27.78 | 2.68 | 62.14 | – | 1 |
| Josh Hazlewood (AUS) | 4 | 7 | 913 | 152.1 | 51 | 398 | 13 | 3/52 | 30.61 | 2.61 | 70.23 | – | – |
