AUS v IND 2018-19: Memorable batting performances by Indian batsmen at Sydney Cricket Ground

India will look to make history at SCG when they face Australia on Jan 3, 2019 in the 4th Test; with a lead of 2-1.

India and Australia will meet in the fourth and final Test match of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Sydney has been a wonderful hunting ground for the Indian team, given their success here.

India first played a Test at SCG on their very first tour to Australia in 1947-48 and drew the Test match, against an Australian team featuring Sir Don Bradman.

India also registered their first ever Test win at SCG over Australia in 1977/78. Since then, the Indian batsmen have flourished on the Sydney turf, given that it behaves like a subcontinent pitch, providing turn and spin, making it easy for the Indian batting powerhouses over the years to score runs easily.

Keeping that in mind, Team COC lists some memorable batting performances by Indian batsmen at the iconic SCG.

SUNIL GAVASKAR – 172 (1986)
The great Sunil Gavaskar was on his final tour to Australia in 1986 and wanted to make it count. India managed to draw the 3-match Test series 0-0 and Gavaskar played brilliant innings in the final Test.

India scored 600/4d declared with the top three scoring centuries. Kris Srikkanth scored 116 in 117 balls, while Mohinder Amarnath scored 138 runs. However, the best hundred in the innings came from the little master himself, who scored a patient knock of 172 runs in 400 balls.

Gavaskar never gave anyone a chance and the innings was a masterclass against a formidable Australian attack of Ray Bright, Greg Matthews, Bruce Reid, and Dave Gilbert. Sunil Gavaskar played to precision and was playing support to Srikkanth in the start when he was tearing the Australian bowlers to shreds. Then, he and Amarnath ground the Aussie bowlers down in a marvelous 224-run partnership.

Australia managed to make 396 and 119/6 in their two innings and drew the match with Shivlal Yadav picking 8 wickets in the match.

RAVI SHASTRI- 206 (1992)
The third Test of the five-match series between Australia and India was played at the SCG and was the only Test of the series that India managed to draw, as they lost the series 4-0.

The saving grace of this Test match was Ravi Shastri’s brilliant double century and his partnership with a then 18-year-old Sachin Tendulkar.

Australia batted first and scored 313 runs with David Boon making 129. India replied with epic innings total of 483 runs with Ravi Shastri frustrating the Australian bowling lineup with 206 off 477 balls with 17 fours and 2 sixes.

This Australian bowling attack also featured Shane Warne in his Test debut and Shastri took a liking to Warne, hitting him all over the park. In the end, Warne dismissed Shastri to claim his first Test victim, but it came at the price of 150 runs in 45 overs.

This was one of the last best innings from Ravi Shastri against a formidable attack, as he played his last Test in December 1992  and retired at the age of 30 from international cricket.  

VIRAT KOHLI- 147 (2015)
Virat Kohli had left a very bad impression on the Australian cricket lovers due to his brash attitude on his maiden Australia tour in 2011-12.

However, when he returned to Australia for the 2014-15 tour, Kohli had matured enough and showed his class in the fourth and final Test of the series at SCG.

MS Dhoni had retired from Test cricket before this Test match and Virat Kohli, who had previously captained in the series, was named the full-time Test captain starting from SCG Test.

Australia scored 572/7 declared with centuries from Warner (101), Smith (117) and fifties from Rogers (95), Watson (81), Shaun Marsh (73) and Burns (58).

India needed to answer back, but lost opener M Vijay for a duck. KL Rahul scored his first Test ton- a 110, with Rohit making 53.

However, the innings of the match came from new full-time Captain, Virat Kohli, who breezed to 147 runs in 230 balls with 20 fours to his name. Earlier, he had scored twin hundreds on his captaincy debut in Adelaide. He capped a brilliant Test series, with four centuries to his name.

But this was a century that came in adversity and an innings which encouraged others to play out of their skins and draw the Test when faced with a tough task of chasing 349 runs for the win.

VVS LAXMAN – 167 (2000) & 178 (2004)
The Indian tour of Australia in 1999-00 was perhaps one of the low points in Indian cricket history, as Sachin Tendulkar’s stint as Indian captain proved to be a huge failure, despite him doing extremely well with the bat.

India had already lost the first two Tests of the three-match series and in the final Test at the SCG, India batted first after winning the toss and was bowled out for 150 runs with McGrath picking a fifer. Australia replied with a mammoth 552/5d with Langer making 223 and Ponting making 141*.  

In the second innings, VVS Laxman showed his caliber as a batsman and someone that would go on to torment the Australians for a decade. Laxman stood tall while opening the innings with a sublime 167 in 198 runs with 27 fours to his name.

All this while, MSK Prasad and Sachin Tendulkar fell for single-digit scores and Dravid scored a duck. The next best score was Ganguly’s 25 runs, as India was bowled out for 261 runs and lost the Test by an innings and 141 runs and the series 0-3.

VVS Laxman was praised by his Australian counterparts as well, as he had suffered a severe blow to the helmet during his innings, but carried on valiantly, hitting some sublime cover drives and wristy flicks on the leg side.

His second brilliant innings at the SCG came in 2003-04 Test series as India was pushing for a Test series win with the series tied at 1-1 before going into the SCG Test.

India had posted 705/7d with Sachin Tendulkar’s epic double hundred being the cornerstone of the Indian innings. However, VVS Laxman lent some great support to Tendulkar in a big 353-run partnership.

Laxman scored a brilliant 178 runs in the partnership with 30 fours in 298 balls. He and Tendulkar made a mockery of Australian bowling attack featuring Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Bracken, and Stuart MacGill.

SACHIN TENDULKAR - 148* (1992), 154 (2008), 241* (2004)
Sachin Tendulkar loved playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as he has played three of the most brilliant innings at the SCG.

Tendulkar’s first brilliant innings came on his first tour in 1992, when he scored 148* in a 196-run partnership with Ravi Shastri, who scored 206 runs. Apart from these innings, Vengsarkar scored 56, as other Indian batsmen faltered.

India managed to draw this Test match thanks to the efforts of Shastri and a young Tendulkar, who wowed the Australia cricket fans and experts alike with his proficiency at playing on the bouncy pitches down under.

Tendulkar, next best innings at the SCG came in 2008 when he scored 154 in the highly controversial Test match, which saw the two warring sides reach their tipping point. Bad umpiring, worse on-field behavior from both sides and the monkey gate scandal between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds hogged the limelight in an otherwise entertaining Test match.

Australia had batted first and put 463 on board on the back of 162* from Symonds, who enjoyed benefits of some dubious umpiring from Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson. India replied in kind with 532 runs.

Apart from the fifties from Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Sourav Ganguly and a scintillating century from VVS Laxman (109), Sachin Tendulkar stood out with a 243-ball 154* with 14 fours and one six.

His century gave India a minuscule lead over the Australians, despite luck being against the visitors.

Tendulkar’s best innings at SCG in Australia came on the 2003-04 tour when he shunned all the shots on the off side, as they had been causing his dismissals in previous matches and compiled a patient masterpiece of 241* in 436 balls with 33 fours.

Tendulkar didn’t play a single cover drive or off drive during his innings, leaving anything outside off stump and scoring his runs exclusively on the leg side. This kind of restrictive stroke play required some genius level concentration and only a master like Tendulkar could do it.