From conquering the fortress to defying destiny at the Eden Gardens: India’s finest Test victories against Australia

Two of the world’s Test cricketing powerhouses, India and Australia will be going head on against each other with the hope of securing their respective berths in the WTC final at the Oval. If things go as per plan for India, then in all likelihood it will be the hosts and the visitors who will be featuring in the finale. 

The two teams have now been rivals for almost 76 years and the kind of contests that we have seen along the way have been nothing short of spectacular. After Australia’s unparalleled dominion in the early days, India started clawing their way back in the rivalry. Even though it took them 12 long years before they could secure their maiden Test win against Australia in 1959.

If we take a detailed look into the history of these two teams battling it out with each other, we will come across countless windings where the momentum switched sides, each team got into a verbal and physical spat with each other, weapons were drawn, jingles were hollered and most importantly the Border-Gavaskar Trophy changed hands way too frequently until India stepped foot lately and snatched it away a on the last three editions and with the last two triumphs coming in the latter’s backyard.

As we prepare for one of the biggest cricketing rivalries that is all set to unfurl from tomorrow at Nagpur, here are three of India’s finest victories against Australia in Test cricket.

1.    India vs Australia, Eden Gardens, 2001 – India won by 171 runs

This victory against the mighty Aussies was probably a reckoning chapter in India’s evolution from what seemed like a dark era of cricketing adversities to a light of national pride and nascence into something massive. Australia led by Steve Waugh was out for blood and got a sumptuous start to the Test series with a clinical victory over India. The start of the second Test didn’t really augur something significant either for the hosts. It was Harbhajan Singh’s imperious display on Day 1 that helped India claw their way back into the game as they successfully crippled the hosts to 269 for the loss of 8 wickets. Much to the shock of the Indian fans, Australia roared their way back to life through Steve Waugh’s resilient 110 and a phenomenal display from Jason Gillespie that allowed the visitors to pile up 445 on the board. Completely outgunned in the first innings, the Indian batters stumbled like dominoes in front of Glenn McGrath’s searing pace leaving India rattled for 171. Asked to follow on, India was once again in early trouble as they lost their two openers for cheap followed by Sachin Tendulkar’s departure for just 10. Sourav Ganguly paired well with VVS Laxman as the duo put on 117 runs for the 4th wicket but the Indian captain departed shortly. That is when the sky came cracking down upon the Australians as VVS Laxman set sail with an incoming Rahul Dravid and the two piled on a staggering 376 runs stand for the fifth wicket, tiring and frustrating the Australians before a late charge from Zaheer Khan helped India set a target of 384 runs. Australia’s luck ran out in the second innings as the Indian bowlers swarmed over them with Harbhajan Singh leading the show emphatically. They were off to a decent start as Hayden, Slater and Langer got the runs coming but were shortly handed over a fall that they could barely handle and ended up gifting a 171-run victory to the Indians.

2.     India vs Australia, Adelaide, 2004 – India won by 4 wickets

This was a time when Australia was at their phenomenal best and the Indians were starting to rise with a set of youngsters who were ready to scale any given mountain. After a roaring start to the series that was dampened by the rain Gods on the final day at Brisbane, the caravan arrived in Adelaide. Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. Despite Matthew Hayden’s early fall, they kept on hacking away at the Indian bowlers as they piled up a staggering 400 runs at the end of day 1. Thanks to Anil Kumble, the visitors managed to roll them up for 556, not allowing the tail to add further woes to India’s already disastrous outing till then in Adelaide. India couldn’t really bang the doors open as their opening pair of Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag were quickly shown the exits and two of their most adept middle-order batters, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar could only add 3 runs collectively before the Men in Blue were reduced to a humiliating 85 for 4. That is when an incoming VVS Laxman dropped anchor alongside Rahul Dravid and the duo posted a staggering 303 runs for the 5th wicket allowing India to come in close vicinity of the Australians. With bare minimum help from the Indian tail, Rahul Dravid kept on battling till the end, propelling the visitors to 523. The magic, however, unfurled when Australia came out to bat in the second innings as Ajit Agarkar went berserk. Snuffing out the resilience of the Australian quartet of Damien Martyn, Steve Waugh, Simon Katich and Adam Gilchrist, India was on their way to make history. Agarkar claimed 6 wickets as Australia were skittled out for a modest 196, imparting a target of 230 for India. Led by Rahul Dravid again, India successfully tip-toed to the gates of history as they secured a victory by 4 wickets, beating Australia at the iconic Adelaide.

3.    India versus Australia, Brisbane, 2021 - India won by 3 wickets

This was history being penned in its crudest form as India was to battle the might of the reckoning Aussies to decide the fate of a series that had seen the visitors sink to their lowest ebb, fly across the highest peak and stave the hosts away in the face of monstrosities unseen. With almost half of the side ruled out for the final Test at the Gabbatoir, India had to brave countless on and off-field challenges. Australia got off to a shaky start but were soon back on track as Marnus Labuschagne showcased his true class, aiding the hosts in racking up 369 for the first innings. India couldn’t really hit their stride as their top-order seemed blunt in front of Australia’s marauding pace mafia but they stayed afloat through two unlikeliest contenders in Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur as the duo piled up 123 runs for the 7th wicket. Skittled out for 336, India could cut down the lead to a decent amount that could have been plugged easily and the Indian bowlers set sail for the impossible. Spearheaded by Steven Smith and significant cameos from the other batters, Australia could rack up 294 on the board as Mohammed Siraj gave a first glimpse of the menace that he was about to unleash upon the international circuit. He claimed a fifer and was aptly accompanied by Shardul Thakur as the duo plundered 9 wickets between them. Usually in the fortress where Australia did not know defeat in Tests for a staggering 32 years, India wanted to go forth with a calculated approach. Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara seemed in good touch and placed India on a pedestal from where they could see the finish line but it was infused with all sorts of challenges bestrewn on the path. However, walking out of the dark with a torch in his hand, Rishabh Pant chose to think of almost the impossible and started playing his natural game while Australia targeted the other end. Coming out to bat when India was 167 for 3 till that dramatic last stroke where he smoked Josh Hazlewood to the ropes for the winning runs, he was an absolute treat to watch and India added another historic chapter to their already bloated rivalry with the mighty Australians.