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Over the last few decades, the India-Australia rivalry in Tests has achieved legendary status, on par with the India-Pakistan tussle and the Ashes.
Australia have held the ascendancy when it comes to numbers in their rivalry against India, with 42 wins and 28 losses in 98 Tests. However, India have slowly but surely made their presence felt in, what is now, a battle of the biggies.
When India won two Tests Down Under in 1977-78 and backed it up with a famous triumph in Melbourne in 1981 against all odds, it seemed that India had come of age in their rivalry against Australia away from home. That, however, proved to be a false alarm, as it would be another 22 years before India won a Test in Australia.
In the 90s, both teams were dominant at home, which led to monotony in the India-Australia rivalry. With the turn of the millennium though, India began to make a significant impact Down Under.
Three epic player battles in the India-Australia rivalry
As India and Australia prepare for their latest tussle, we look back at three epic player battles that elevated the India-Australia rivalry to legendary stature.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar (India) vs Glenn McGrath (Australia)
By the time Glenn McGrath made his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was already a known name in international cricket.
However, it did not take long for McGrath to make his name in the international arena, and Tendulkar-McGrath became the first potrait of the renewed India-Australia rivalry.
Like Tendulkar and Shane Warne, McGrath and the Master Blaster were also involved in several intriguing combats over the years. McGrath’s strength was his ability to keep batsmen quiet by maintaining an impeccable line and length outside the corridor of uncertainty. He preyed on many a batsman’s patience and came out on top by forcing errors from them.
With Tendulkar though, McGrath faced a different challenge. Unlike other mortals, the Master Blaster was gifted with the ability to pick the line and length of a ball early. As a result, he could prepare the mental map of his shot even before the ball was pitched.
McGrath knew that merely by bowling outside the off-stump he couldn’t unsettle Tendulkar. He looked to take every possible opportunity to have a go at the Indian genius by playing mind games. Of course, Tendulkar was not someone who indulged in verbal dues, but he did enjoy many stare-off battles with the lanky fast bowler.
While Tendulkar and McGrath crossed paths numerous times during their illustrious careers, their most memorable duels came during India’s disastrous tour Down Under in 1999-00. That was a time just before the India-Australia rivalry moved up another gear.
Despite India getting blanked 3-0, Tendulkar took on McGrath and co and notched up 278 runs with one hundred and two fifties. Tendulkar, the captain of Team India, stood tall even when everyone around him crumbled.
The Mumbai maestro drove with elan, punched with grace and pulled with command. He rarely looked troubled out in the middle. Those were the days when Indian cricket was largely about Tendulkar against the opposition, at least away from home.
Considering India’s woes on that tour, Tendulkar was under immense pressure, and McGrath pounced on every opportunity like a hungry predator. The tall fast bowler dismissed Tendulkar twice during the series, both times lbw. However, the contentious lbw in Adelaide when Tendulkar ducked under a bouncer and was hit on the shoulder remains a subject of intense debate even 20 years later.
#2 VVS Laxman (India) vs Shane Warne (Australia)
Few batsmen have treated Shane Warne with disdain the way VVS Laxman did. VVS did to Warne in Tests, what Tendulkar did to the Australian leg-spinner in ODIs.
That was until Laxman decided to take on Warne at Eden Gardens in 2001. Till then, the Aussie spin wizard was dominant over India in the series. Had it not been for VVS’ mastery over Warne, the result of the 2001 Test series could have been different and, perhaps, the stature of the India-Australia rivalry as well.
It would be apt to say that the Laxman-Warne battle was the defining moment in the India-Australia rivalry becoming what it is today.
Laxman went down the track to Warne and neutralised the spin on the ball. Even when he played across the line, he never looked ungainly or out of control. The stylish Hyderabadi could play two different strokes to the same delivery, such was the array of strokes in his arsenal.
On a hot day at Eden Gardens, Warne kept running in to bowl against Laxman, hoping for a change in luck. That moment never came and, by the time Warne and Australia realised, the match and momentum had been spun out of their grasp by Laxman. The India-Australia rivalry took a new turn after this chapter.
What Laxman achieved against the greatest spinner of his era is regarded as one of the legendary feats of all time.
However, three years later, Warne returned to India and had his revenge though. He foxed Laxman and dismissed him cheaply in both innings of the first Test in Bengaluru, setting the tone of the series along with young debutant Michael Clarke, who smashed a debut hundred.
Shane Warne's amazing comeback should have been a glorious new chapter in the India-Australia rivalry. Somehow, the Aussie spin wizard has never been given the kind of credit he deserves for the 'Very Very Special' fightback against Laxman. Neither has Australia’s incredible 2004 win in India got its due. Even so, debates on India-Australia rivalry will remain incomplete without the mention of Laxman vs Warne.
#3 Rahul Dravid (India) vs Jason Gillespie (Australia)
Rahul Dravid and Jason Gillespie had similar roles in the Indian and Australian Test teams of the late 90s and 2000s. With Tendulkar, Warne, Laxman and McGrath playing the superstar roles, Dravid and Gillespie were the batting and bowling workhorses for their respective sides.
While Dravid was fond of the cricket pitch and stuck to it like a glue, Gillespie loved bowling long spells to keep the batsmen on their hooks. Thus, the Dravid-Gillespie battle provided a subtle subtext to the intriguing India-Australia rivalry.
Here, it was often a ‘test’ of grit and patience, with neither willing to give up. For purists, it was Test cricket at its sublime best; runs or wickets did not matter. The contest in itself was a splendid display of the traditional values of the game.
Dravid and Gillespie were engaged in many duels during their remarkable careers, most notably in 2001 in India and the 2003-04 series in Australia when Gillespie was leading the bowling attack.
Re-living the India-Australia rivalry, Gillespie paid tribute to Dravid in a column he wrote for ESPN Cricinfo a few years ago. The retired fast bowler said:
“I cannot recall beating Dravid more than one ball in a row.”
Jason Gillespie’s candid admission is perhaps a giveaway of who won this contest. That said, there was hardly a dull moment when the former Australian fast bowler ran in to bowl to Dravid. No smiles exchanged, no jokes cracked. Only steely resolve on both sides, and a will to win that was second to none.
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