Border Gavaskar Trophy series: The year 2011 was a mixed one for Indian cricket. India won the ODI World Cup in 2011 after 28 years but they suffered ignominious losses in England and Australia. The side lost all 8 of their overseas games in a span of five months. Their pride was hurt even more when the visiting England side won the 4-match series 2-1 in 2012. India’s home terrain was broken. It was at this juncture that Australia readied itself to tour India.
We look at the Border Gavaskar Trophy series between 2013-17:
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#1 The whitewash that very few saw coming:
Michael Clarke was in ominous form as captain-batsman. He was expected to do the bulk of scoring for the Aussie side. Clarke started the tour with a bang scoring century in the first Test in Chennai. Australia posted a solid score of 380+ batting first.
India replied with a huge 500+ total that saw captain MS Dhoni score his first and only Test double hundred. Ravichandran Ashwin went on to roll over the Aussies as India notched up a thumping win.
India didn’t look back post the win in the first Test:
The tour started going downhill for the Australian team quickly post the defeat in the first Test. India thumped Australia in the second Test in Hyderabad with Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay scoring big hundreds.
Shikhar Dhawan announced himself at the international level with the fastest Test ton scored on debut. India won the Mohali Test going 3-0 up in the series. Delhi saw a fair contest between both sides as India won the fourth innings battle and they whitewashed the Aussies 4-0. It signalled India’s dominance at home.
#2 India’s current Test team was built on this tour:
The 2014-15 Test series started on the most unfortunate of notes. Phil Hughes suffered a fatal injury in a shield game leading to his untimely demise. The venue and the date of the first Test were shifted. It was thought that the series would be played in a sober manner. But the action that followed was anything but that. The two sides went toe to toe in each of the four Tests.
Kohli’s tryst with Adelaide:
Virat Kohli was India’s stand-in skipper for the first Test in Adelaide. India’s inexperienced bowling lineup fail to bowl out Australia in both innings. Clarke though set India 364 to win on the final day. Kohli’s India took the gauntlet and came agonizingly close to the total. The youthful energy failed to ride the momentum as the margin of defeat was just 48 runs.
India got a new Test captain!
India had their noses ahead in the 2nd Test in Gabba, Brisbane. But a session of mindless batting cost them the game. India without playing all that badly still trailed 0-2 in the series. The featherbeds in Melbourne and Sydney ensured high scoring draws. MS Dhoni hung up his boots post the third Test in MCG. It was Kohli who led the side in the fourth Test. India was ranked seventh in Tests when he was anointed the Test captain!
