🏏India tour of Australia 2025: Australia vs India, 5th T20,Brisbane🏏

🏏India tour of Australia 2025: Australia vs India, 5th T20,Brisbane🏏

It's no longer referred to as the 'Gabbatoir' for good reason. Not too often or not by default anyway. As was the case for so many years.

Not after Australia have won only two out of the last five Tests played at their erstwhile fortress.

While it's unlikely that anyone is going to reach out for that old trope this weekend, Australia do have a rather impressive record at the Gabba when it comes to T20I cricket. Even if it isn't the biggest sample size.

But Australia have only ever lost once in the shortest format in Brisbane across eight matches that stretches back to 2006. That loss came against the West Indies in 2013.

And Australia will want that record to stay put. For one more night at least as they look to level the five-match series after India took an unassailable lead on Thursday night on the Gold Coast.

It's been a strange old series so far, which started off with a washout in Canberra followed by a thumping win for the Aussies in front of a packed MCG. India have since clawed back with two very professional displays in two convincing victories to further enhance their reputation as being the No 1 T20I team in the world.

That win also ensured that Australia's run without a series win in the shortest format against India on home soil will continue on for a few more years. India have a grand opportunity to further their hold on the titles of being favourites to defend their crown in a few months' time on home soil. And to have done it with a team which is still not quite full-strength would be another feather in the cap for Suryakumar Yadav's team.

When: Australia v India, 5th T20I, November 8, 2025, 18:15 hrs Local Time, 19:15 hrs

Where: The Gabba, Brisbane

Pitch Report:

What to expect: It was once again a beautiful summer's day in Queensland on the eve of the final T20I. Though there are forecasts for storms later in the day, as is par for the course in this part of the world at this time of the year, the locals are confident that it'll stay away for us to get an uninterrupted contest. India started their white-ball campaign on a very bouncy Perth pitch a few weeks ago, and they will finish on a surface which should have the trademark Gabba bounce and carry but should mean more smooth strokeplay as compared to the two-paced track on the Gold Coast, where boundary hitting got progressively more difficult as the innings got deeper.

Team News

Australia

Josh Philippe has got some unexpected opportunities to show his wares on this Indian tour so far, and he had a golden chance to really impress at Carrara, if only he'd managed to steer Australia closer to their target. It wasn't to be and there's every chance Mitch Owen might come back into the side and keep his spot in the middle-order with Matt Short having shown signs of breaking free at the top. Mahli Beardman still has an outside chance of making a debut but it'll be interesting to see who he could come in for.

Probable XI: Mitch Marsh (c), Matt Short, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Owen/Josh Philippe, Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Mahli Beardman/Ben Dwarshius

India

Despite missing Hardik Pandya, and having sent Kuldeep Yadav back home early, India have found a settled unit after the Melbourne defeat, and will stick with it for the big finale as they try to wrap up this series. Their three spinners have blended perfectly with Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh while Shivam Dube has provided vital breakthroughs with his change of pace varietals.

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Suryakumar Yadav’s India will take on Mitchell Marsh’s Australia in the fifth of the five-match T20I series at the Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday. The visitors with their win in the previous game have an opporuntity to win the series 3-1. Australia, on the other hand, though even if they win the final encounter, can only level the series.

As the series progressed, India has increasingly looked more accomplished and well-rounded in both batting and bowling departments. As per Australia, although they have won the second T20I in Melbourne, they could not continue the same form since the game in Hobart. On the day’s batting clicked, bowling failed to deliver, and vice versa.

Key player to watch out for India----

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, although he has looked good in patches, he has yet to make a significant contribution in this series. He has threatened to do so even at the Gold Coast when he was looking in sublime touch, but eventually could not capitalize on the start. He will be hoping to play an innings of substance in Brisbane and help India claim the series.

Key player to watch out for: Nathan Ellis, with his variations, has been top-notch in the Aussie attack. He has mixed up his pace nicely and has been able to deceive the batters. Once again at Gabba, altough the wicket might be a bit on the quicker side, he has shown, regardless of the surface in this format, he has the balls to decieve the batters.

Australia vs India in T20Is: Head-to-head – Australia won: 12; India won: 22

IND vs AUS 5th T20 Match Date, Time, Venue

Since the inception of the T20 format, India have never lost a men's T20I series involving two or more games on Australian shores. It is a record that will stay irrespective of what happens in the final game of this series at The Gabba on Saturday, although a win will see them achieve an unprecedented first - a third bilateral T20I series win in an away country.

Given the might of Australia as a cricketing nation, it is a massive feat even as India have held the wood over the Aussies in this format over the years. That they've managed to overturn a 1-0 deficit to now hold the lead in the series with a game to spare is testament to just how good they have been as a T20 outfit, as much as their tactics and team combination continue to warrant scrutiny.

Brisbane has been a fortress for Australia in Tests in particular, but The Gabba is a venue that has seen India script some of its most historic wins - from the CB series triumph in 2008 to the famous Test win in 2021. Not a bad place to play the last match of the tour then, is it?

Life at the Carrara Oval was akin to what India have experienced over the years in the subcontinent. It was something that skipper Suryakumar Yadav opined at the toss and as it turned out, that is exactly how things panned out. A scratchy batting performance saw the visitors post 167 but it was a score that eventually proved 48 runs too many, with Australia crumbling in their chase despite the wicket seemingly playing better than it did in the first innings.

It took a collective bowling performance, coupled with some inspired bowling changes on the part of Suryakumar, to script that win for the Indians. Of course, Shivam Dube dismissing Tim David and Aussie skipper Mitchell Marsh off short deliveries is something that wouldn't make many Bingo cards but the manner in which he used his bounce and mixed his pace was a sign of how shrewd he was in adapting to conditions. Elsewhere, Axar Patel was marvelous with his lines and lengths, probing away at the stumps and giving the batters little to nothing to work with.

Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh have never lost a T20I while playing together and it's not hard to see why. The latter himself has admitted that batters tend to chance their arm against him given that they tend to play Bumrah cautiously and that gives the left-armer an opportunity to make inroads. Bumrah will be keen to leave Australia with his 100th T20I wicket in the bag - he currently sits on 99 - and having bowled superbly thus far, he will be eager to make his mark on Saturday too. As will Varun Chakaravarthy, who continues to be a mystery to deal with while his statemate Washington Sundar performed quite the cleanup job on Friday.