The Border-Gavaskar series — the four-Test match series between India and Australia — starts on Thursday, February 9, in Nagpur. This is the first time since the 2016-17 season that Australia will be travelling to India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and this time around, a new-look side, led by Pat Cummins, will hope to win the coveted trophy, which might up as a pre-cursor to the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Here, we take a close look at the last time Australia travelled to India and the eventual result of that tournament.
India lost the first match by 333 runs
As mentioned above, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was last played on Indian soil in 2016-17. Then, the team India was still captained by Virat Kohli.
The first Test was played in Pune. It was a strong batting performance by the Australian team, which was then captained by Steve Smith as they registered a big win of 333 runs. Australian left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe took six wickets in each innings. The Aussie skipper smashed a century in the second innings to set a tough target of 285, and then they bundled India up for just 107 runs.
Comeback in the second Test and a draw in the third
After their debilitating loss in the first Test, the second saw a bright start, with KL Rahul scoring a brilliant 90 runs in the first innings with the bat and 51 in the second innings. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja wreaked havoc with the ball for India, and together, they took a total of 15 wickets in both innings of the match. This helped India to a 75-run victory.
The third Test match in Ranchi was a high-scoring affair. Smith smashed a brilliant 178 in the first innings, setting a first innings score of 451 runs. But Chesteshwar Pujura showed his class as well, with a 202, coupled with Wriddhiman Saha's 117 runs, which took India to 603/9d. The match ended on Day 5 with Australia at 204/6.
Series win recorded in the last match
With the series on 1-1, the final Test at the Dharamshala ground in Himachal Pradesh became a crucial affair. This match saw a third century for Australian captain Steve Smith, as he scored 111 runs in the first innings. But the match was spun on its head by chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who took four wickets in the first innings in Dharamshala.
In the second innings, both Ashwin and Jadeja took three wickets each. They dominated the Australian batters, who were dismissed in the first innings and 137 runs in the second innings. Team India won the series 2-1 after scoring 332 runs in the first innings and 106 runs for two wickets in the second innings.
