The much-awaited Border Gavaskar trophy is set to begin on Thursday with both sides looking to win the Nagpur Test.
Expecting a turning track, the Australian camp has hired Mahesh Pithiya in order to tackle Ravichandran Ashwin in the series. Undoubtedly, Ashwin will be crucial for India in the series alongside other spinners such as Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma & Co. are very confident of performing well in home conditions. They have been superb in the past and will look to continue their dominance at home. So, as the series is around the corner, let us take a look at the top five Test matches between the heavyweights:
#5 2017 BGT: Bengaluru Test
Bengaluru track, which is often known to be batting-friendly, gave nightmares to the batsmen of both sides in the 2017 Test. India, after batting first, could only score 189 in their first innings, out of which KL Rahul scored 90. The rest of the players failed to contribute with the bat with Karun Nair being the second-highest scorer with just 26 runs.
Australia’s Nathan Lyon got his dream pitch to bowl on as he picked up eight wickets in the innings. On the other hand, the visitors were better with their willow as they put on 276 runs on the board. Matt Renshaw and Shaun Marsh scored half-centuries where as Ravindra Jadeja grabbed six wickets.
It looked like Australia would win the match but some good show with the bat by the Indians put the game in the balance. The hosts scored 274 in their second innings, thus giving Australia a target of 188 to chase on a tough wicket.
Legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the key for India in the fourth innings as he picked up 6 wickets and bowled Australia out for just 112 runs. India won the game by 75 runs and KL Rahul became the man of the match for his important knocks in both innings.
#4 2007-08 BGT: Perth Test
It was a remarkable revenge from the Indian team on the tour of 2007-08. WACA, Perth was known to be a bouncy track and a victory here would have meant a lot to the Indian fans. After batting first, India scored 330 runs, thanks to Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar who produced a good partnership of 139 runs for the third wicket.
An impressive spell of swing bowling from RP Singh and Irfan Pathan helped India restrict Australia to just 212 in their first innings. The visitors batted well in their second innings as well with 294 on the board, giving the Kangaroos a target of 412 to chase.
The hosts batted really well but 412 was too much on that surface. Skipper Anil Kumble bowled well throughout but it was Irfan Pathan who became the player of the match for his tight bowling in both innings.
#3 2010 BGT: Mohali Test
Cricket fans witnessed a spectacular game of cricket on Australia’s tour to India in 2010. It was the first Test in Mohali and Australia hammered 428 in the first innings with the help of Shane Watson’s scintillating ton. For India, it was Zaheer Khan who picked up a fifer while Bhajji picked up three wickets.
India produced a similar performance with the bat in their first innings by scoring 405 runs, thanks to Sachin Tendulkar for his brilliant 98. Suresh Raina, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag scored half-centuries too. Not much time was left in the game after two big totals in consecutive innings but Indian bowlers managed to send the whole Australian line-up back to the pavilion for just 192 runs.
Now, the equation was clear that the hosts had to chase 216 on Day 5. With cracks on the wicket, none of the Indian batsmen could tackle the Australian bowlers well apart from the very very special player, VVS Laxman. The right-hander remained not out till the end and scored 73 off just 79 deliveries, giving India one of the finest victories in Test cricket. Ishant Sharma was applauded for his effort with the bat in this nail-biter.
#2 2020-21 BGT: Brisbane Test
The series was 1-1 before this final game at The Gabba, Brisbane. It is being said that beating Australia at The Gabba is nearly impossible for any country but no one expected the young Indian side to create history at the iconic stadium where many sides have failed in the past.
The game started on a terrific note with Australia scoring 369 in the first innings. T Natarajan, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar picked up three wickets each for their team. India, on the other hand, scored 336 runs with the help of crucial knocks from Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur.
The game was very much balanced at this time but the hosts scored around 300 in their second innings to give a target of 328 runs in the fourth innings. It was not easy at all but the intent was clear from the Indian top order.
Shubman Gill hammered 91 runs off 146 balls whereas Cheteshwar Pujara scored 56 before getting out. India still needed 63 runs when Mayank Agarwal got out and all the responsibility was now on Rishabh Pant. The southpaw stood there till the end and finished with 89* to give India a historic victory.
#1 2001 BGT: Kolkata Test
Widely regarded as one of the greatest matches ever played in the history of cricket, the Kolkata Test has a lot of memories. Australia was full of star-studded players whereas Indian cricket was not in the best state at that time. The Kangaroos batted first and posted 445 runs on the board.
Legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh picked up a hat-trick in that innings but a century from the great Steve Waugh and a powerful 97 from Matthew Hayden kept Australia on top. On the other hand, the Indians were bowled out for just 171 because of some exceptional bowling from Glenn McGrath. He picked up four wickets for just 18 runs in his 14 overs.
Australia decided to enforce the follow-on and sent India to the pitch once again to register an innings victory. What happened after that was completely a miracle. India did not start well with Sachin Tendulkar, Shiv Sundar Das and Sadagoppan Ramesh going cheaply.
Interestingly, VVS Laxman came in place of Rahul Dravid at number three and created history by scoring 281 runs. Dravid came in at number six and scored 180 from his willow. They had a partnership of 376 runs which not only dug out India of a difficult situation but also put Australia in a tough situation where they had to chase 384 to win.
The story did not end here as Harbhajan Singh was waiting to bowl another magical spell. He picked up 6 wickets on that turning track and gave India their best victory to date. Sachin Tendulkar, too had a great innings with the ball as he sent Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, and Shane Warne back to the pavilion.