NEW DELHI: Forty years ago in Melbourne, in a cliffhanging Test match against India, Australia had to score only 143 runs to register the win. At that time, with a lot at the stake, India’s two-match series was threatened by a clean sweep, but Kapil Dev, Karsan Ghavri and Dilip Doshi bowled out Australia for 83, and clinched the game, levelling the Test Series 1-1. It was a memorable victory for India in Australia.
Of Course, the Indian team has won only one Test series in Australia—which was last year— but apart from this, on two other occasions, they did not let Aussies win the series on Australian soil. Five years after this series, all the three Test matches played in Australia were drawn and India dominated. It was hard for Australia to manage the draw in the first inning of the third Test played in Sydney. All three of India’s top-order batsmen—Gavaskar, Srikanth, and Mohinder Amarnath scored centuries—and the Australian team lost six wickets for 119 runs after the follow on. Off-spinner Shiv Lal Yadav and left-arm spinner Ravi Shastri, scalped 14 crucial wickets in the Test, giving India an upper hand in clinching the match.
In 2003-04, under the captainship of Sourav Ganguly, Team India returned after concluding the test series by 1-1 in Australia. After the first Test draw at Brisbane, India registered a resounding victory in the second Test in Adelaide where Australia lost despite scoring 556 runs in the first inning. This test is remembered for Rahul Dravid’s memorable double century, V.V.S. Laxman’s century, and Anil Kumble’s five-wicket haul in the first inning. Also, Rickey Ponting’s double ton went in vain.
Apart from this, one can hardly forget the series played in Australia in 2018-19 and 1977-78. On the first occasion, Team India achieved the distinction of being the first Asian team to win the test series in Australia. Cheteshwar Pujara was the hero of team India’s 2-1 win. He scored three centuries in the series. At the same time, Virat Kohli and Rishabh pant each had a century respectively.
While on the second occasion, amid the bone-chilling competition, Australia won three Tests, then India also won two. While India edged out at Adelaide and Melbourne, Australia won the Perth Test after India suffered a brutal collapse in the second innings. Indian team, led by Bishan Singh Bedi, won two Tests from Australia in 1977-78. But could not win the five-match series. Australia won the first two Tests at Brisbane and Perth while India won the Test in Melbourne and Sydney to equalise the series. Australia eventually won the series by winning the Perth Test. The best thing about the series was that while India registered the big wins in two Tests and Australia won in very close matches and escaped to lose the Perth Test.
The Border-Gavaskar trophy commenced in 1996. Since then, it has been held 14 times. India has been successful in winning this trophy 8 times while Australia 5 times, and on one remaining occasion, the series did not yield any result. The first edition was held in 1996 in which India won by seven wickets. The series is mostly a four-Test series with the exceptions being the first four editions and 2010. This year, the Border-Gavaskar trophy is starting from 17 December. The biggest feature of the series is the first-ever pink-ball fixture between the two respective countries.