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Border Gavaskar Trophy
source: ProBatsman

No team has dominated Test cricket like Australia. Their dominance has withstood the fading of the golden era and the ball-tampering saga as they continue to top the Test rankings and find themselves comfortably at the top spot of the current cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). If there’s one side that has tested Australia in the recent past, even outdone them, in the most pristine format, it’s India.

Gabba to Gabba

A few months after its independence, India sailed Down Under to play their first-ever Test against the Don Bradman-led Australian side. Expectedly, Bradman led the carnage with a 185 at the Gabba in Brisbane as India folded to an innings defeat. Since then, over the next 75 years, the sides squared off in 102 Tests, with Australia winning 43 and India 30.

The mid-1990s were interesting times. While Australia embarked on their journey as an unseen force in international cricket, India witnessed an influx of new-age poster boys who refused to be intimidated. Since 1996, India and Australia started contesting for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a prized possession named after two all-time greats – Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar – the first two entrants to the five-digit run-tally club in Test cricket.

India have had the upper hand in Border-Gavaskar Trophy, winning 22 and losing 19 out of the 52 contested Tests. Out of the 15 series played so far, India have won nine, Australia five and one has ended in a draw. India, the current holder of the trophy, have retained it 10 times, while Australia just five times. It has been six years since the trophy has been with India.

India’s last effort to cling to the coveted prize was a herculean show that fittingly came at the Gabba in Brisbane, the same venue where they were thrashed in their first-ever Test against Australia and a fortress that stood un-breached for almost three-and-a-half decades.

Over the past decades, India and Australia have contested some of the greatest duels in cricketing history, which makes the Border-Gavaskar Trophy one of the most looked-forward series in the sport.

In a massive blow for India and cricket fans worldwide, the hero of the Gabba Test, Rishabh Pant, someone who embodies India’s new brand of fearless approach with the red ball, will miss the action from the long-awaited series. A serious road accident has ruled out India’s highest-ranked Test batter for a considerable period.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy Results

SeasonHostCaptainsResultHolderPlayer of the Series
1996-97IndiaSachin Tendulkar (Ind), Mark Taylor (Aus)India 1-0 (1)IndiaNayan Mongia (Ind)
1997-98IndiaMohammad Azharuddin (Ind), Mark Taylor (Aus)India 2-1 (3)IndiaSachin Tendulkar (Ind)
1999-00AustraliaSteve Waugh (Aus), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)Australia 3-0 (3)AustraliaSachin Tendulkar (Ind)
2000-01IndiaSourav Ganguly (Ind), Steve Waugh (Aus)India 2-1 (3)IndiaHarbhajan Singh (Ind)
2003-04AustraliaSteve Waugh (Aus), Sourav Ganguly (Ind)Draw 1-1 (4)IndiaRahul Dravid (Ind)
2004-05IndiaSourav Ganguly-Rahul Dravid (Ind), Ricky Ponting-Adam Gilchrist (Aus)Australia 2-1 (4)AustraliaDamien Martyn (Aus)
2007-08AustraliaRicky Ponting (Aus), Anil Kumble (Ind)Australia 2-1 (4)AustraliaBrett Lee (Aus)
2008-09IndiaAnil Kumble-MS Dhoni (Ind), Ricky Ponting (Aus)India 2-0 (4)IndiaIshant Sharma (Ind)
2010-11IndiaMS Dhoni (Ind), Ricky Ponting (Aus)India 2-0 (2)IndiaSachin Tendulkar (Ind)
2011-12AustraliaMichael Clarke (Aus), MS Dhoni-Virender Sehwag (Ind)Australia 4-0 (4)AustraliaMichael Clarke (Aus)
2012-13IndiaMS Dhoni (Ind), Michael Clarke-Shane Watson (Aus)India 4-0 (4)IndiaR Ashwin (Ind)
2014-15AustraliaMichael Clarke-Steve Smith (Aus), MS Dhoni-Virat Kohli (Ind)Australia 2-0 (2)AustraliaSteve Smith (Aus)
2016-17IndiaVirat Kohli-Ajinkya Rahane (Ind), Steve Smith (Aus)India 2-1 (4)IndiaRavindra Jadeja (Ind)
2018-19AustraliaTim Paine (Aus), Virat Kohli (Ind)India 2-1 (4)IndiaCheteshwar Pujara (Ind)
2020-21AustraliaTim Paine (Aus), Virat Kohli Ajinkya Rahane (Ind)India 2-1 (4)IndiaPat Cummins (Aus)

India have won seven out of the eight series played in India, while Australia have won once. In Australia, India have won two out of the seven series played, one has been drawn, while Australia has nabbed four.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy head-to-head

 TestsIndia wonAustralia wonDraw
In India251654
In Australia276147
Overall52221911

Most runs in Border-Gavaskar Trophy

BatterTestsRunsAveSRHS100s50s
Sachin Tendulkar (1996-2013) | IND34326256.259.4241*916
Ricky Ponting (1996-2012) | AUS29255554.457.7257812
VVS Laxman (1998-2012) | IND29243449.754.3281612
Rahul Dravid (1996-2012) | IND32214339.739.5233213
Michael Clarke (2004-14) | AUS22204953.956.6329*76
Cheteshwar Pujara (2010-21) | IND20189354.142.4204510
Matthew Hayden (2001-08) | AUS1818885965.920368
Steve Smith (2013-21) | AUS14174272.655.119285
Virender Sehwag (2003-13) | IND22173841.475.219539
Virat Kohli (2011-20) | IND20168248.152.516975

Highest individual scores in the tournament

  1. Michael Clarke (AUS) 329 (468)* | Sydney, 2012
  2. VVS Laxman (IND) 281 (452) | Kolkata, 2001
  3. Ricky Ponting (AUS) 257 (458) | Melbourne, 2003
  4. Ricky Ponting (AUS) 242 (352) | Adelaide, 2003
  5. Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 241 (446)* | Sydney, 2003

Most prolific batters in Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India

BatterTestsRunsAveSRHS100s50s
Sachin Tendulkar (1996-2013) | IND19182156.959.821459
VVS Laxman (1998-2010) | IND1411985756.628128
Matthew Hayden (2001-08) | AUS11102751.462.820325
Rahul Dravid (1996-2010) | IND17100035.739.118017
Michael Clarke (2004-13) | AUS1397240.549.715134

Most prolific batters in Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India among current players

BatterTestsRunsAveSRHS100s50s
Cheteshwar Pujara (2010-17) | IND990064.349.720425
Steve Smith (2013-17) | AUS66606046.6178*31
KL Rahul (2017) | IND439365.556.39006

Most wickets in Border-Gavaskar Trophy

BowlerTestsWicketsAveEconSRBB5w+
Anil Kumble (1996-2008) | IND2011130.33.158.78-14116
Harbhajan Singh (1998-2013) | IND189529.92.961.18-847
Nathan Lyon (2011-21) | AUS229434.73.166.38-507
R Ashwin (2011-21) | IND188931.52.769.27-1035
Ravindra Jadeja (2013-21) | IND126318.82.250.76-633
Zaheer Khan (2010-21) | IND196135.63.463.25-913
Ishant Sharma (2008-18) | IND255942.23.180.14-410
Brett Lee (1999-2008) | AUS1253323.357.15-472
Glenn McGrath (1996-2004) | AUS115118.62.250.15-482
Josh Hazlewood (2014-21) | AUS155126.92.563.66-674

Best bowling figures in an innings in the tournament

  1. Nathan Lyon (AUS) 22.2-4-50-8 | Bangalore, 2017
  2. Harbhajan Singh (IND) 41.5-20-84-8 | Chennai, 2001
  3. Anil Kumble (IND) 46.5-7-141-8 | Sydney, 2004
  4. Jason Krezja (AUS) 43.5-1-215-8 | Nagpur, 2008
  5. R Ashwin (IND) 42-12-103-7 | Chennai, 2013

Most wickets in Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India among current players

BowlerTestsWicketsAveEconSRBB5w+
R Ashwin (2011-21) | IND85023.12.5567-1035
Ravindra Jadeja (2013-21) | IND849182.249.76-633
Nathan Lyon (2011-21) | AUS73430.63.551.78-503

Most successful captains in terms of wins

CaptainsTestsWonLostDraw
MS Dhoni (2008-14) | IND13841
Michael Clarke (2011-14)| AUS8530
Steve Waugh (1999-2004) | AUS10532
Ajinkya Rahane (2017-21) | IND4301
Sourav Ganguly (2000-04) | IND9333
Virat Kohli (2014-20) | IND10343

Trivia: Rohit Sharma (India) and Pat Cummins (Australia) haven’t led their teams yet in India-Australia Tests. Both the captains led their side in whites for the first time in the 2021-22 season.

ICC Test Rankings:

Australia: 1 | India: 2

WTC 2021-23, Points table: Australia 1 (75.6) | India 2 (58.9)

Top batters in Tests from India-Australia

BatterICC Ranking
Marnus Labuschagne (AUS)1
Steve Smith (AUS)2
Travis Head (AUS)4
Rishabh Pant (IND) (won’t play series due to injury)7
Usman Khawaja (AUS)8
Rohit Sharma (IND)10
David Warner (AUS)14
Virat Kohli (IND)15
Shreyas Iyer (IND)18
Chesteshwar Pujara (IND)22

 Top batters in Tests from India-Australia

BowlerICC Ranking
Pat Cummins (AUS)1
Jasprit Bumrah (IND) (out of first 2 Tests due to injury)3
R Ashwin (IND)4
Mitchell Starc (AUS)9
Josh Hazlewood (AUS)10
Nathan Lyon (AUS)14
Mohammed Shami (IND)18
Axar Patel (IND)19
Ravindra Jadeja (IND)20
Ishant Sharma (IND) (not a part of the squad)23

Top all-rounders in Tests from India-Australia

All-rounderICC Ranking
Ravindra Jadeja (IND)1
R Ashwin (IND)2
Mitchell Starc (AUS)5
Pat Cummins (AUS)8
Axar Patel (IND)14
Cameron Green (IND)15

Australia will play a Test in India after six years. The previous series in India was closely contested, with India clinching the decider at Dharamsala. The 2020-21 series was recognised by the ICC as the greatest Test series ever.

Despite Australia’s recent dominance in the format, the home conditions give a slight edge to India. They haven’t lost a Test series at home in over 10 years, and it has been almost 19 years since Australia last won a series in India.

With the no.1 Test Ranking and a spot in the WTC final in sights, India have a lot to play for. And without their top-ranked batter (Pant) and bowler (Bumrah), it will be quite a task for the hosts to dominate the Aussies.

Squads:

India (for first two Tests): Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Alex Carey (wk), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Todd Murphy, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Matthew Renshaw, Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Lance Morris

Schedule:

  • Test 1: February 9, Nagpur
  • Test 2: February 17, Delhi
  • Test 3: March 1, Dharamsala
  • Test 4, March 9, Ahmedabad

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