5 memorable Indian bowling performances in Test cricket on Australian soil

India touring Australia is always a mouth-watering prospect for cricket lovers. Indias tour this time kicks off with the first Test match at the Gabba, Brisbane which starts from December 4. Virat Kohli will continue with his captaining stint for the first Test, while for Australia, Michael Clarke is unsure to play given his hamstring injury and Shane Watson or even Steven Smith could step into his shoes.It will be a very fascinating contest between bat and ball that will last four Tests. The seaming pitches will be a very different setting for Indian bowlers, and the onus will be on them to use the help on offer to their advantage. If they fail to do so, the Kangaroos will have a heavy advantage.Here are some memorable Indian bowling performances that took the Aussies by surprise.

#1 Ajit Agarkar (Adelaide, 2003)

This gem of a Test match is going to be recounted in the cricketing world for a good number of generations to come. Australia butchered the Indian attack the first time they batted, putting 556 on the board, courtesy of a Ricky Ponting double hundred. India’s response, which was a surprise for most, was just 33 runs short, courtesy of the Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman pair, which was once again at Australia;s throats, punishing them with a 303 run-stand.

The second time India started bowling, the match was headed for a draw with less than two days’ time left and everything going the batsmen’s way. Ajit Agarkar decided that he did not like what he saw, and demanded that the bowlers have a say in the game.

That is exactly what followed, because it was his act with the ball on day 4 that created a possibility for an Indian win, which was ensured on Day 5 by Man of the Match Dravid, who once again top scored with 72*.

He provided the early breakthroughs – Justin Langer was the first to go, followed by Ponting, who was dismissed by a stunner caught by Aakash Chopra. He then returned to clean up the tail, only after Tendulkar had pulled off a surprise by dismissing Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh in consecutive overs.

Agarkar came and removed Andy Bichel, Simon Katich, Jason Gillespie and Stuart MacGill within a space of 12 runs, and the Aussies were all out for 196.

This was a major turning point in the match, as India could now think of sneaking a win, with just 230 required and roughly 100 overs of play still to be played. Agarkar had produced career best figures of 6/41, and he could not have chosen a better occasion.

And to complete the story of an incredible win, he was present at the non-striker’s end as Dravid hit the winning runs to take India home. The full stadium applauded as the architects of India’s victory walked out of the park.

#2 Kapil Dev (Melbourne, 1981)

India gave Australia a target of 143 in the final innings of the 3rd and final Test when they toured in 1981. Already trailing 0-1, one would have thought the series was over for India. Australia had more than a day’s time to score the required runs, and given that they had put on 419 in the first innings, it was a shocker to see them dismissed for a paltry 83.

Karsan Ghavri did the early damage, with the wickets of Dyson who edged the ball to Kirmani, and skipper Greg Chappell who could not shield his stumps well enough on the first delivery he faced. Dilip Doshi followed up with the wickets of Graeme Wood and Kim Hughes shortly after, and things suddenly started to be tilted in India’s favour for the first time in the match.

The best was yet to come. The match still could have gone both ways, with just another 100 odd runs required by the Aussies. But Kapil Dev’s dream spell of 5/28 ensured that it didn’t. He started off his carnage by hitting Bruce Yardley’s woodwork, and had Allan Border caught behind just 5 runs later. Wicket-keeper Rod Marsh was next to depart, who was done in by his crafty fast-medium bowling and exposed his stumps to the ball, as did Dennis Lillee another 8 runs later. The score now read 69/8, and India had almost finished a famous win.

It was only fitting that the star bowler completed his five-for by sending the last man Higgs back to the pavilion. India had pulled off an unthinkable feat, and they had none but their bowlers to thank for it.

#3 Bhagwath Chandrasekhar (Melbourne, 1977-78)

This was India’s first ever win on Australian soil. It would not be wrong to call it a one-man show as far as India’s performance was concerned. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar produced a bowling performance that was equivalent to scoring double hundreds in both innings of the game.

He took 6 scalps in the first innings to reduce the Aussies to just 213, when at one stage, Gary Cosier and Craig Serjeant were batting and they looked good for so much more. India batted again with a 43-run lead already in the bag. They put on 343, as Sunil Gavaskar starred with a century. Australia needed 387 in the last innings, and they had almost a day and a half to give it a shot.

But that was not happening with Chandrasekhar around. He was hungry for wickets as ever, and in prime touch. He took six wickets a 2nd time, replicating his figures of 6/52 from the first innings, only this time the Aussies were restricted to a total below 200. India had won for the first time in the series and that too by a colossal margin of 222 runs.

The Aussies, however, went on to win the closely-contested series by a margin of 3-2.

#4 Ishant Sharma (Perth, 2008)

Even though the numbers don’t show it, Ishant’s spell at Perth was one such that had a real say in where the match was going. Tensions were high after the previous Test at Sydney witnessed Monkeygate and a horde of poor umpiring decisions. There were considerations that India would boycott the series and head home. Instead, they decided to stay on and battle it out, and Ishan’t spell symbolized the persistence beautifully.

The 19-year old was given the ball around the time Ponting was batting, and it would be an understatement to say that he gave the batsman a hard time. With just two wickets down and almost two full days left to play, Ponting and Hussey kept to the crease and would have given the target of 413 a fair attempt. But it was not to be. Ishant kept it consistently tight to the Australian captain, beating him on several occasions.

He also had him leg before once when Ponting did not offer a shot but padded the ball instead, which was a mistake seeing it was too near off-stump. The umpire overruled the appeal considering the height factor. Ishant did not lose heart at all.

He kept running in with his in-swingers and varied pace and bounce to confuse him. It finally paid off when he was given an extra over after his spell was completed, at the behest of Sehwag, who felt he was bowling really well and had a fair chance at getting Ponting.

And sure enough, it did happen. Ponting prodded at what he thought was an in-swinger. The ball held its line, took the edge and went straight into the safe hands of Dravid at slip. It was a perfect end to an amazing contest between bat and ball. Ishant took just the one wicket in the innings, but it was the most crucial one.

The Aussies had no big partnerships after that, and although Clarke and Johnson did show some resistance with well-made fifties, the Indians managed to seal a victory by 72 runs, with Irfan Pathan getting 3 wickets and Kumble, Sehwag and RP Singh grabbing two apiece. Pathan was Man of the Match for his 6 wickets in the game and runs with the bat in both innings.

#5 Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, Erapalli Prasanna, Bishan Bedi (Sydney, 1978)

This was a huge defeat for the Australians as the Indian side came together and produced some seriously good batting and bowling efforts. The leaders in the bowling department were Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and skipper Bishan Singh Bedi.

Australia were dismissed on the first day itself, with just 131 on the board. Mohinder Amarnath was the first to strike, followed by a run out of the in-form Peter Toohey, after which the wickets kept coming. Craig Serjeant and John Dyson departed after short intervals, after which Bedi hit the stumps twice in the same over – he first sent back Kim Hughes batting on 17, followed by Tony Mann facing his very second ball.

Skipper Bob Simpson steadied the ship for a while before he edged a Chandrasekhar delivery to Syed Kirmani behind the stumps.

India put on 396, and the Aussies now had a huge margin of 265 to cover to make India bat again. They fell 2 runs short, courtesy of a great Indian bowling performance a second time. Opener Dyson was once again done in by Chandrasekhar, as was Hughes by Bedi.

Prasanna, who was relatively quiet in the first innings, started asking questions this time around. He first shattered Gary Cosier’s stumps, and did a double strike to get Simpson and Mann (who was again dismissed off the second ball without scoring) in the same over to reduce the score from 4/171 to 6/171. Toohey did persist for some time for his 85, but it was all in vain in the end.

Chandrasekhar, Prasanna and Bedi ended the game with 6, 5 and 5 wickets respectively. India levelled the series 2-2 with this win.

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Edited by Staff Editor