The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023's first match between India and Australia will begin on Thursday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. Virat Kohli, the standout Indian batsman who has seven Test tonnes to his credit, will be the centre of attention. Virat could only play in three of the four games of the most recent home series, and he did not score a lot of runs. In November 2019, he also got a century in a Test match against Bangladesh.


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"Virat is one of the best ever. The age he is at and the stage he is in his career, he will want to use this series as his platform. The best players always choose the best series. We have seen in the T-20 world cup how good he was. It is an indication how hungry he is. He is certainly one who can push us back and we will have to get the better of him to be able to win this series. And I can tell you that we will be ready for him," said Marcus Stoinis on Backstage with Boria show.


With pacer Jasprit Bumrah and wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant absent, the Australians, who currently hold the top spot in the ICC World Test Championship 2021–23 table with a percentage of 75.56, see this series as a chance.


"Look injuries are never good. You always want to play against the best players even if they are in the opposition. That's what makes our sport what it is. Having said that we know what impact Rishabh and Jasprit can have and India will certainly miss them. Rishabh Pant had a huge impact in the last series in Australia and is a game-changer. So is Jasprit. Any team will miss players of their quality. For us, we will miss the reverse swing of someone like Starc in Nagpur. Having said that we have options. Young Lance Morris for example. What a dream debut it will be for him if he gets an opportunity, " said Marcus Stoinis.


The Border-Gavaskar series has had some fantastic matches throughout the years, and most recently, one of the most thrilling ones included Ravichandran Ashwin and Steve Smith. "Steve is in excellent form right now, and his recent record shows that. He plays spin really effectively. He scored a few hundreds in the BBL in addition to having a good home Test series. For Ashwin, who is among the finest ever, he will be the most prepared. I must admit that this will be an exciting competition "Marcus Stoinis commented. India wants to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship 2021–23 final, which will take place this year, with a convincing 3-1 victory or a convincing 4-0 victory.