Harbhajan Singh ditches India, predicts Australia to dominate Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25

India National Cricket Team spin-bowling great Harbhajan Singh has stated that the Australia National Cricket Team will have a 'slight edge' heading into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Harbhajan Singh chose Australia as slight favorites to win the upcoming high-profile five-match Test series because, according to him, the confidence of the India National Cricket Team has been shaken following a 0-3 sweep against the New Zealand National Cricket Team at home.

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India lost 0-3 against New Zealand

The Rohit Sharma-led side faced an embarrassing 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand at home, which was the first such instance in the history of Indian Test cricket.

The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru hosted the Test series opener, and India got bundled out for 46 runs in the first innings. They came up with a better show in the next innings and posted a decent total of 462 runs on the board, setting up a target of 107 runs for the Kiwis, which the Black Caps chased down easily to win the match by 8 wickets.

In the second Test at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, Mitchell Santner destroyed India and bowled out the opposition for 156 & 245 in two innings to help his team clinch a 113-run win.

The domination of the Black Caps continued in the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and it was spinner Ajaz Patel, who caused the destruction. He ran through the Indian batting line-up, bundling them out for 263 & 121 to help New Zealand win by 25 runs.

It's 50-50 - Harbhajan Singh's prediction for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

The India legend Harbhajan Singh said that India have a 50-50 chance of winning the five-match series.

Notably, Harbhajan gave a 50% chance to India to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy despite their recent debacle because he opined that the conditions in India were extremely tough for batters.

"It's 50-50. I am not considering the cricket India played recently because the conditions were different. Even solid batters gave the feeling they didn't know how to bat (against New Zealand). People were saying that seniors should go and play Ranji Trophy. That won't solve the purpose. Australia will have good conditions. Pitches will be good," Harbhajan said on Jatin Sapru's YouTube channel.

We need a player like Pujara, who can grind in and make the ball old - Harbhajan Singh

The legendary off-spinner was also optimistic about Indian batters coming up with great performances in the series against Australia. He reckoned that an Indian batter would have to play the role of Cheteshwar Pujara, who used to make the bowlers tired and the ball old.

Harbhajan Singh further said that the Aussies will have a slight edge because of their familiarity with the home conditions and emphasized on the importance of starting well in the series.

"I feel India batters will come good. We need a player like Pujara, who can grind in and make the ball old. KL Rahul has been criticized so much. He is a class player. It will be a 50-50 series. But I will give a slight edge to Australia because they are playing at home and India's confidence would be a bit shaken (after NZ loss).

"The first Test will be very important. If India start well in Perth, then the team will give a solid fight in the series. If India doesn't start well, then problems will escalate for India," Harbhajan added.