Increased rivalry between India and Australia in the last 75 years
The Ashes series between Australia and England has become a tradition but the importance of emotion in India vs Australia Test matches can be seen from the results of series between the two countries over the past 75 years. The rivalry between India and Australia has grown tremendously over the past 75 years and the upcoming four-Test Border-Gavaskar series, starting February 9 in Nagpur, is going to be a tough one. Before this, the statistics of some of the best matches played by the Australian team in India have been very interesting in one way or the other.
At the Brabourne Stadium, India were in trouble at 89 for seven in the second innings of the First Test against Australia in 1969 and needed a miracle to save the match. Ajit Wadekar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan were at the crease. The duo was building an eighth-wicket partnership when umpire Shambhu Pan controversially gave Venkataraghavan out caught behind, adding to one of the scariest incidents in India-Australia Test history.
The decision was heavily criticized by radio commentator Devraj Puri, which reduced the team’s score to 114 for eight. This enraged the spectators, who began throwing chairs, throwing empty drink bottles into the stadium. Then the players also got scared seeing the flames in the stand. Australian cricket writer Ray Robinson, who was in the CCI press box, described the violence he saw with his own eyes in his book ‘The Wildest Test’.
Despite such conditions at the stadium, Australian captain Bill Lawry wanted to play and India ended the fourth day at 125 for nine. On the fifth day, India set Australia a target of 64 runs, which they achieved by losing two wickets, taking a 1–0 lead in the five-match series and eventually winning the series 3–1. The Madras Test in the 1986 series ended in a tie, with the late Dean Jones scoring a double century in difficult conditions while umpire Vikramaraju lost his career to a controversial lbw decision.
India were set a target of 348 and left-arm spinner Ray Bright took three wickets to bring Australia back, leaving Ravi Shastri and number 11 Maninder Singh at the crease with four runs to win in the end. But off-spinner Greg Mathews (who took 10 wickets in the match) had Maninder lbw but the Indian batsman was sure he was not out but the umpire gave the decision and a match was tied for the second time in Test history.
Vikramaraju did not get a chance of Test umpiring again after this. At the same time, Jones’ inning of 210 runs in extreme heat became the most important of his career. During this shift he fell ill and had to be taken to the hospital. After a 10-wicket win in the opening Test in 2001, Australia were on course to win their first series in India since 1969–70, but VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid stitched a crucial 376-run stand and Harbhajan Singh took 13 wickets to seal their victory. Made the team win.
Despite a hat-trick from young Harbhajan Singh, Australia scored 445 in the first innings and bowled out hosts India for 171 to follow on. At 232 for four in the second innings, India needed a miracle, which Laxman and Dravid did with a 376-run partnership and the team scored a mammoth 657 for seven. Chasing an impossible target of 384, the Australian team was bundled out for 212 with Harbhajan’s 13 wickets. After this performance at Eden Gardens, Laxman, Dravid and Harbhajan joined the league of greats. Australia, however, won the next series in India three years later in 2004, winning 2–1.
