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The tour of Australia is one of the most difficult tours that a team can embark upon. The touring party is tested endlessly by the relentless Aussies on the field. They are equally tested by the fans and the media off the field.Team India, with many young faces has already begun this testing tour with one practice game ending in a draw and the other called off owing to Phil Hughes’ sad demise. The test series is just a few days away. Before the action gets underway, let’s take a look at how The Men in Blue have performed at each venue in the past.P.S: The stats are only for the 4 venues where this test series is going to be played.
#1 The Gabba, Brisbane
The first test of the upcoming series is going to be played at The Gabba in Brisbane. This ground is a real Australian stronghold. The Aussies have not lost a game in Brisbane since 1988.
Team India: Overall Record
The Gabba has not really been a happy hunting ground for Team India. Out of the 5 matches played at this venue, the subcontinental giants have lost 4 and have managed to only draw 1 game played in 2003-04 Border Gavaskar trophy. In fact, India’s lowest test score against Australia, 58, came at this very venue.
Batting
India’s batting record at this venue is not too good. The innings of 58 all out mentioned above, also happens to be the lowest team total at The Gabba. Out of the 10 innings played, only 3 have been in excess of 300, one of which was in excess of 400 in the 2003-04 series. India’s batting woes at this venue are evident from the fact that there have been only 3 Indian centurions at this venue. Sourav Ganguly’s 144 in the 2003-04 Brisbane Test is the highest score by an Indian at this venue. The other two centurions for India are Sunil Gavaskar and M.L Jaisimha.
Bowling
Unlike their batting compatriots, the Indian bowlers have had a fairly decent run at this venue. There has not been a single instance when the Indian bowlers have conceded in excess of 400 runs at The Gabba. In fact, there have been 2 matches in which the Indian bowlers have scalped all 20 Aussie wickets.
There have been 4 Indian bowlers who have picked up 5 wickets in an innings at Brisbane. Erapalli Prasanna holds the record for the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler at this venue, 6/104 in the 1967-68 Brisbane Test. The other 3 Indian bowlers who have picked fifers are Zaheer Khan, Madan Lal and Bishan Singh Bedi.
#2 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
The Adelaide Oval is one of the most picturesque venues in the world and is the homeground of the legendary Sir Don Bradman. With 36 wins in 72 matches played, the Kangaroos have won 50% of their games played at this ground.
Team India: Overall Record
One of India’s most famous overseas victories came at this venue in the 2003-04 Border Gavaskar trophy. In all, India has played 10 matches at this ground and have won a solitary game, having drawn 3 games and lost 6. The game that India won in the 2003-04 series was a complete team performance wherein all aspects of their game clicked really well.
Even in games that India lost, the team went down fighting, having lost a couple of those games by a margin of under 50 runs. Off the 3 drawn games, India had an upper hand in 2 of them and they fought it out in 1 of them.
Batting
Indian batsmen have a very good record at the Adelaide Oval. As many as 11 Indian batsmen have notched up centuries at this venue.
Rahul Dravid, with his 233 in the 2003 Adelaide test, holds the record for the highest score by an overseas batsman at Adelaide. The Wall and Very Very Special Laxman hold the record for the highest partnership for the 5th wicket (303 runs) on this ground. Sunil Gavaskar and Nandlal Yadav hold the record for the highest last wicket partnership at this venue (94 runs).
Below are the highlights of the 2 great innings that Mr.Dependable played in the 2003 Adelaide Test:
Bowling
Indian bowlers too have had a good time at the Adelaide Oval. Out of the 10 tests played, Indian bowlers have picked up all 20 wickets in 4 of them. 7 Indians have managed to pick up 5 wickets in an innings on this ground.
Kapil Dev with his figures of 8/106 holds the record for the best figures by an overseas bowler at this venue. Moreover, Paaji with 19 wickets, is the only overseas bowler who finds his name among the top 20 bowlers at the Oval.
However, one spell that Indian fans will remember the most is Ajit Agarkar’s 6/41 in the 2nd innings of the 2003 Adelaide Test. Though India came back in the game courtesy of Dravid’s double hundred, Agarkar’s spell too played a crucial role in setting up the game for India. The highlights of that lovely Agarkar spell are shown below:
#3 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
The 3rd test of the upcoming series will be the traditional Boxing Day Test played at The MCG. The Aussies have a very good record at this historical venue as well having won 61 of the 106 games played with a winning percentage of 57.55.
Team India: Overall Record
India’s record at the MCG is a mixed bag. They went unbeaten for 3 tests at this venue from 1977 to 1985. However, things have been all downhill ever since. Team India has lost each of its last 5 Tests at the MCG and all of them by heavy margins.
Coming back to that unbeaten streak, 2 of those tests were consecutive wins and convincing ones at that, the first one of the two wins in 1977 was India’s first test win on Australian soil and the third one was a draw in which the Indian team had a upper hand.
Batting
India’s batting record at the MCG is nothing much to write home about. Out of the 21 completed innings, the team has scored in excess of 300 on only 6 occasions and only 1 of them has been in excess of 400. In fact, there have been 7 instances when the entire team has been bowled out for under 200, one of them as low as 67 in the 5th test of the 1947-48 series played at this venue.
Only 6 Indian batsmen have registered tons at Melbourne.
The one innings that will surely be fresh in the minds of Indian fans is the 195 that Virender Sehwag scored in the 2003 boxing day test.
All of his runs came in a single day in what was an excellent exhibition of the ‘See the ball, Hit the ball’ theory and it was also the record for most runs scored by a batsman in a single day’s play at The MCG. The highlights of that spectacular innings can be seen below:
Bowling
Indian bowlers’ showing at this venue has been pretty decent. It can be said that they have been let down by the batters.
In 4 of the 11 matches played, the Indian bowlers have managed to pick up all 20 Australian wickets. There have been 7 instances when an Indian bowler has picked up a fifer at this ground.
Bhagwat Chandrashekhar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble have achieved this feat twice while Erapalli Prasanna has done it once. In fact, Chandrashekhar holds the distinction of being the only Indian bowler to have picked up 10 wickets in a game at The MCG.
One of the best performances that the Indian team gave as a bowling unit was in the 1981-82 Melbourne test wherein they bowled out the Baggie Greens for 83 in pursuit of a victory total of 143. While Kapil Dev wreaked havoc in the Aussie camp by picking up 5 wickets, Dilip Doshi and Karsan Ghavri kept things tight and picked up 2 wickets apiece.
What is even more commendable that India were one bowler short as Nandlal Yadav did not bowl in the second innings. The video below is an account of that heroic bowling performance:
#4 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
The SCG, home of Aussie captain Michael Clarke will host the fourth and the final test of the upcoming series. It also happens to be the venue for the traditional New Year’s Test. The Aussies have a good record at this ground too having won 57 of the 102 games with a win percentage of almost 56.
Team India: Overall Record
India’s record at the SCG reads 1 win, 4 draws and 5 losses in 10 games played. Each of those 5 losses, however, have been some really big defeats.
The best moment that Team India has had at this ground is the innings victory over the Aussies in the 1978 Sydney Test. That victory was India’s second consecutive victory on Australian soil and effectively tied the 5 match series 2-2.
However, SCG was the very venue of the infamous Monkeygate Scandal Test in 2008. That was one game that hurt the Indians real bad because they ended up on the losing side in spite of having played some really good cricket.
Batting
Indian batsmen have a liking for this venue as they have posted totals in excess of 400 in 5 of the 10 tests played at this ground. In fact, Team India with a score of 705/7 declared in the 2004 Sydney Test holds the record for the highest team innings at The SCG.
Sachin Tendulkar had such a staggering run at this ground that many fans said that SCG actually means ‘Sachin Cricket Ground’. In 5 matches played at this venue, the Little Master aggregated 785 runs at a superhuman average of 157. Interestingly, each time Sachin scored a century at Sydney he went on to remain unbeaten.
VVS Laxman was another batsman who had a great time batting at Sydney. In 4 tests played he notched up 549 runs at an average of almost 79 including 3 centuries. Sachin and Laxman also hold the record for the highest partnership for the 4th wicket at this venue (353 runs).
The record for the highest partnership for the second wicket at this venue is also held by an Indian pair, Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath(224 runs). In all there have been 10 centuries recorded by Indian batsmen at this venue with Sachin and Laxman scoring 3 each and Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Kris Srikanth and Mohinder Ambernath scoring a ton apiece.
Relive that epic partnership between Tendulkar and VVS in the below video:
Bowling
Indian bowlers’ performance at this venues has been pretty patchy. While they have brought the Aussies on their knees in a few innings, they have been made to toil really hard in a few others.
In the last 5 Australian innings versus the Indians at Sydney, the Kangaroos have posted a score in excess of 400 in 4 of them which includes one score in excess of 500 and another in excess of 600. Moreover, 3 of these 5 innings were declared by the Aussies.
Overall, just 4 Indian bowlers have picked up 5 wickets in an innings at The SCG. Anil Kumble, however, holds the record for the best figures by a spinner at this venue for his 8/141 in the 2004 Sydney Test. He also happens to be the only Indian bowler to have picked up 10 wickets in a match at Sydney.
The performance that stands out, however, is another team performance that came in the 1978 victorious Sydney Test. In both innings, India’s spin trio of Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrashekhar spun a web around the Aussie batsmen while the medium pace duo of Karsan Ghavri and Mohinder Amarnath kept the batsman on a leash.
The below video is an account of Kumble’s heroics in the 2004 Sydney Test:
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