AUS v IND 2018-19: A look back at India's 5 Test wins in Australia

The 2018-19 Australia-India Test series begins on December 6 with the 1st Test in Adelaide.

The latest edition of the Australia-India rivalry in Tests will begin from December 6 when visitors India will take on hosts Australia in the first Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Adelaide Oval.

The rivalry between Australia and India goes back to 1947-48 when an Indian side led by Lala Amarnath toured down under to face Sir Don Bradman’s Australia side. The Indian side was comprehensively beaten by Australia 4-0 in the five-match series. However, Vinoo Mankad became the first Indian to score a Test century in Australia at Melbourne and Vijay Hazare scored a century in each innings in Adelaide.

Since then, the Indian side has managed to register five Test wins in Australia and are yet to win their first Test series down under. The closest they came to winning a Test series was on the 1977-78 tour when India went into the fifth and final Test with series 2-2.

In recent times, Australia has emerged victorious with a 4-0 series win in 2011 and a 2-0 series win in 2014-15. However, India has always shown the fight and tenacity needed to beat the Kangaroos in their own backyard and this 2018-19 series is dubbed as India’s golden chance to conquer the final frontier of a series win in Australia.

In order to keep that sentiment alive, let's revisit the five times India has beaten Australia in Australia in Test matches and relive some of the golden moments of India’s Test wins down under.

Here is a look back at India’s Test wins over Australia in Australia

1^st Test win – AUS v IND 1977/78, Melbourne
India defeats Australia at Melbourne by 222 runs

India came into this Test match, the third of the five-match series, in Melbourne having lost the first two Tests. They lost the first Test by 16 runs and the second by 2 wickets. It was all on the line for the Indian team in Melbourne, as they had to win the Test to stay alive in the series.

Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi chose to bat first, but India lost both openers- Gavaskar and Chauhan for ducks leaving the team 0/2. But Mohinder Amarnath (72), Gundappa Vishwanath (59), Ashok Mankad (44) and valuable contributions from Vengsarkar and Kirmani took India to 256 runs.

Jeff Thomson took 3/76, while Wayne Clark was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, picking 4/73.

Australia replied 213 with only Gary Cosier (67) and Craig Serjeant (85) making noticeable contributions, as Bhagwat Chandrasekhar ran through the Australian side with 6/52 and was aided by two wickets each by Karsan Ghavri and Bedi.

India needed a big score to put pressure on Australians and required someone to play long innings and that’s when Sunil Gavaskar showed his mastery on Australian wickets. Gavaskar scored a brilliant second innings century- 118 from 285 balls with 12 fours. He was aided by his brother-in-law Gundappa Vishwanath, who scored his second fifty of the game (54) and other contributions from Amarnath and Mankad took India to a final score of 343.

Australia was set for 387 runs and the pressure was on the batsmen, something a bowler like Chandrasekhar cherished. Chandra, along with Bedi demolished the Australian batting as Cosier came up with the highest score of the innings – 34.

Chandra picked 6/52 and Bedi picked 4/58, as the two world-class spinners handed Australia a 222-run defeat.

The heroes of the match for India were Sunil Gavaskar for his century, Amarnath and Vishwanath for their valuable contributions with the bat and Chandrasekhar for his match haul of 12/104.

2^nd Test win – AUS v IND 1977/78, Sydney
India defeats Australia by an innings and 2 runs

With a morale-boosting 222-run win in the bag, the Indian team came to Sydney for the fourth Test of the series, still, with the possibility of a series loss looming over their heads, the Indian team upped the level of their game.

This time, Australia decided to bat first after winning the toss and the decision proved to be a disastrous one, as Chandrasekhar’s 4/30 and Bedi’s 3/49 routed Australia for 131 runs, with captain Bob Simpson making the highest score of 38 runs.

India knew that they had to put runs on the board to pressurize the Australians and took their own time to make 396/8d. Vishwanath made 79, Ghavri made 64, while Gavaskar, Chauhan, and Kirmani scored 40 odd runs to help India’s cause. Thomson was again the pick of Australian bowling picking four wickets.

Though Gary Cosier made 68 and Peter Toohey made 85 at no.5, the guile and skill of Erapalli Prasanna (4/51) and two wickets each from Chandrasekhar, Bedi and Ghavri proved to be too much for Australia, as they fell short by 2 runs to make India bat again and India won the match by an innings and 2 runs.

This was the first and till now only time, that India has won back to back Test matches against Australia in Australia.

3^rd Test win – AUS V IND 1981, Melbourne
India defeats Australia by 59 runs
Despite the best efforts of the Indian team of 1977-78 series, India had to face a series loss of 3-2, as Australians won the fifth Test of the series comprehensively.

However, things were going to get better for the Indian team that toured in 1981 for a three-match Test series, as Indian team had a potentially high-class fast bowler in the ranks in form of Kapil Dev.

India had lost the first Test at Sydney by an innings and 4 runs, while managed to draw the second at Adelaide. Everything came down to the third and final Test in Melbourne and that’s when Kapil Dev showed his skills and big heart as he bowled India to a win despite a major injury.

India was put into bat first by Australians and Gundappa Vishwanath scored a scintillating century – 114 in 222 balls with 11 fours to give the Indian score some respectability. India made 237 in their first innings, as Dennis Lillee picked four wickets and Len Pascoe picked three.

Allan Border scored a brilliant 124 and captain Greg Chappell made 76, as Australia piled 419 runs. The wickets were shared by Indian spinners as Dilip Doshi picked three and Shivlal Yadav picked two. Sandeep Patil and Karsan Ghavri also chipped with a couple of wickets apiece.

In the second innings, the Indian openers Gavaskar (70) and Chauhan (85) put on 165 runs and with contributions from Vengsarkar (41) and Sandeep Patil (36) took India to 324.

This innings saw the drama of Sunil Gavaskar taking his partner Chetan Chauhan off the field, after being given out LBW off Lillee. Gavaskar was the captain and was appalled at the umpiring in the match and reached his boiling point when Lillee came up to him and asked him to walk. However, team manager Durrani talked Gavaskar out of his decision to walk with his partner and concede the match to Australia and allowed the match to continue.

Set a paltry target of 143 runs to win, Australia fancied their chances given that India’s premier fast bowler, Kapil Dev had injured his ankle and on the final day of the Test, had a handful of runs to make with eight wickets in hand. India had lost Shivlal Yadav to an injury and he couldn’t bowl or field, leaving India will just one proper bowler in Dilip Doshi, who bowled from one end and picked 2/33 in 22 overs.

However, Kapil Dev returned to the field and bowled after taking pain-killing injections to his ankle and bowling off a shortened run-up, ran through the Australian side. He removed Yardley, Border, Marsh, Lillee, and Higgs to pick 5/28 in 16.2 overs and Australia was bowled out for 83 runs.

India won the match by 59 runs and Gundappa Vishwanath was awarded the Man of the Match honor for his century. It was a show of grit and valor from the Indian team, who drew their first-ever series in Australia.

4^th Test win – AUS v IND 2003, Adelaide
India defeats Australia by 4 wickets

India had traveled to Australia in 1992-92 and lost the five-match series 4-0, were whitewashed in the 1999-00 series 3-0 under Sachin Tendulkar and this 2003-04 series marked the renaissance of Indian cricket under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

India- Australia rivalry was at its peak, with India having won the much heated and tightly contested 2001 series at home. Australia was seething at the loss and this was the time for revenge and they went after the Indians. India managed to draw the first Test at Brisbane on the back of a wonderful century by Sourav Ganguly and some spirited bowling by Zaheer Khan.

Australia batted first and put on a mammoth 556 runs as Ricky Ponting smashed his then career-best 242. Justin Langer and Simon Katich also scored the fifties to put Indians under pressure. For India, Anil Kumble toiled away for 43 overs and picked 5/154.

India knew they had to put on a similar score to get back in the match, but lost Tendulkar for 1 and Ganguly for 2, after a brief start by openers Chopra and Sehwag.

But cometh the hour, cometh the man and Australia were given another dose of the Kolkata 2001 Test nightmare as Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman added 303 runs for the 5^th wicket. Laxman made 148, but the star for India was Rahul Dravid, who became the second Indian batsman to score a double century in Australia- 233 from 446 balls with 23 fours and one six. India made 523 in their first innings.

Now it was time for an unlikely Indian team member to perform and Ajit Agarkar banished some of the demons of his horrid tour down under on the 1999-00 tour. Agarkar picked a career-best 6/41 to rout Australia for 196.  Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh, who was playing his last international series for Australia scored forty odd runs each.

Set a target of 230 to win, Sehwag gave India a brisk start, before India lost wickets. But once again, Rahul Dravid stood like a wall, compiling 72* and with contributions from Sachin Tendulkar and Laxman, took India to a famous win by 4 wickets.

Rahul Dravid was named the Man of the Match for his mountain of runs in the match and India went on to draw the 4-match series 1-1.

5^th Test win – AUS v IND 2008, Perth
India defeats Australia by 72 runs

No one can forget the tumultuous 2008 India tour to Australia. The series was marred by poor umpiring, on-field incidents between players and blatant disregard for sportsmanship by the home team. As Anil Kumble pointed out, only one team played the series in the spirit of the game.

After losing the first Test in Melbourne, and then the second Test in Sydney, which is now famous for the Australian team’s antics and the monkey gate controversy between Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh. India had to fight back to keep themselves alive in the series in the third Test at Perth.

Australia flexed their muscles on the fastest pitch in the world and recalled the speedster Shaun Tait for the all-important match at the WACA ground in Perth.

Captain Anil Kumble won the toss and chose to bat first. India put on 330 on the board with Dravid making 93, Tendulkar making 71 and contributions from Sehwag, Laxman and Irfan Pathan. Mitchell Johnson picked 4/86 for Australia.

Indian bowlers seemed to get more out of the Perth wicket as RP Singh swung the ball to pick 4/68, while Irfan, Kumble and Ishant Sharma picked two wickets each. Australia was bowled out for 212 with Symonds making 66 and Gilchrist making 55. The innings is known for Ishant Sharma’s hostile workover to Ricky Ponting in one of the best fast bowling spells seen by an Indian fast bowler.

India scored 294 in their second innings with Laxman making 79, Pathan making 46 at no.3 and Dhoni and RP Singh contributing majorly down the order. Australia was set a target of 413 runs to win the match.

Though Australia tried to make a match out of the chase, Indian bowlers were all over their batsmen, with RP Singh and Irfan Pathan picking five wickets amongst themselves. Michael Clarke top scored with 81 and Johnson scored 50 down the order, but no one went on to hit a big century, as Australia crumbled to 340 all out and India won the match by 72 runs much to the joy of their fans back home and in Australia, in the aftermath of the Sydney Test match.

Irfan Pathan was chosen the Man of the Match for is an all-around contribution and though India lost the series, this Test win remains their last win on Australian soil to date.

It remains to be seen if the current Virat Kohli led side can do wonders against Australia with possibly one of the best fast bowling attacks India has ever taken down under and with the captain in sublime form. The 2018-19 Australia vs India Test series is India’s best chance to win their maiden series down under and the team can take inspiration from the previous wins listed above.