Hijam Raju Singh
NEW DELHI: The highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) is just round the corner now. India will be playing a five-match series in Australia for the first time since the bilateral contest was rechristened as BGT in 1996.
The stake is very high this time. Since the introduction of ICC World Test Championship (WTC) to spice up the traditional format of the game, every Test series has become an important step towards the qualification for the WTC final.
India have been one of the most consistent teams in the short history of WTC, reaching the final in the previous two cycles. The current cycle is the third in the WTC history and India are very much in contention of making a hat-trick of finals. Whereas, Australia are the defending champions and are on top of the current WTC standings, ahead of second-placed India. So, it’s the clash of the two table-toppers and the series will have a major impact on the qualification of the WTC final next year.
To make the matters worse, India’s unexpected home whitewash by New Zealand made it almost a do-or-die situation for them. India will need to win four of the five matches to secure a spot in the WTC final, without requiring favourable results from other teams.
Historically, Australia have dominated the contest at home, winning 14 of the 27 BGT matches Down Under.
India have managed to win just six matches in Australia. But more importantly, four of those six came in the last two series, which India won both times with 2-1 margin.
As India get ready to play BGT for the first time in all five major Test venues in Australia, let’s check out how the visitors had performed in each of them so far in the prestigious bilateral showdown.
* India have played seven matches each in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, while facing the hosts three times each in Brisbane and Perth so far.
Adelaide: M 7 | IND 2 | AUS 4 | D 1
India played their first BGT match Down Under at the Adelaide Oval in December 1999, which the visitors lost by 285 runs. It turned out to be a forgettable series for India as they were whitewashed 0-3 by Australia.
Adelaide has hosted BGT matches in every series since. India have managed to register two victories in the venue – by four wickets in December 2003, and by 31 runs in December 2018. Both these victories had significant impacts on the outcome of the respective series.
The 2003 win was India’s first BGT match win Down Under and it helped the visitors draw the four-match series 1-1. In fact, India took a 1-0 lead with the win in the series after a draw in the Brisbane opener.
And in 2018, India again took a 1-0 lead after the win in Adelaide, which was the opening match of the four-match series. The visitors then went on to win the series 2-1.
Melbourne: M 7 | IND 2 | AUS 4 | D 1
Like Adelaide, India started their BGT match at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground with a big 180-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test in 1999. Since then, the visitors have lost three more matches in Melbourne in the next six encounters, while winning in two.
In fact, India lost four consecutive matches at MCG before drawing the 2014 Boxing Day Test. But, India turned it around by winning the last two matches there, which played significant parts in the visitors winning the last two series Down Under.
Sydney: M 7 | IND 0 | AUS 3 | D 4
The only ground in Australia where India are yet to open their BGT account is Sydney Cricket Ground. The visitors have also suffered their biggest defeat Down Under at SCG, when they were hammered by an innings and 141 runs in January 2000, resulting in India losing the first BGT in Australia 0-3.
India have lost three matches in Sydney in seven encounters, while managing four draws – the only venue with multiple stalemates too.
But the draws in Sydney have also played their parts in India’s favourable series outcomes over the years.
The first draw in January 2004 helped India finish the series 1-1. And the draws in the last two series were part of India’s successful campaign.
#BGT IND vs AUS: Ashwin unlikely to play before the 3rd Test | #BeyondTheBoundary
Brisbane: M 3 | IND 1 | AUS 1 | D 1
India had mixed results at The Gabba in Brisbane. The first encounter their ended in a draw in a drawn series in 2003-04.
Brisbane missed out as the host in the next two series, before returning in the 2014-15 showdown. In 2014, India lost the match by four wickets which resulted in the visitors losing the series 0-2.
But The Gabba will be remembered for India’s valiant three-wicket win in the last series in January 2021. The match saw Rishabh Pant’s stunning unbeaten 89 and his sixth wicket stand of 53 runs with Washington Sundar (22) which helped the visitors chase down 328 to clinch the series 2-1.
Perth: M 3 | IND 1 | AUS 2 | D 0
Perth became part of BGT in the 2007-08 series, and India started with a bang there. The visitors won their first BGT match in Perth by 72 runs in January 2008.
But it turned out to be some sort of beginner’s luck as India then suffered two heavy defeats in the next two encounters.
India were hammered by an innings and 37 runs in January 2012, and by 146 runs in December 2018.
IND have what it takes to challenge this AUS team in upcoming #BGT | #beyondtheboundary