Fans are already licking their lips in anticipation of watching India's red-ball series against Australia - the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The four-match Test series between India and Australia kicks off on February 09 with the first game scheduled to be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. The upcoming Border-Gavaskar series will be extremely crucial for India as they want to make one final push to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Rohit Sharma's men are currently second on the WTC standings while the Baggy Greens are at the summit.
How did the Border-Gavaskar Trophy get its name?
Australia came on a tour of India in 1956-57 for Test series, and that kick-started the bilateral rivalry between the two nations on the 22 yards. Till 1992, India hosted Australia six times before the series was renamed in 1996. When the Australian team came to India in 1996, the series was named Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar and Australia legendary batter Allan Border, both batters who scored more than 10,000 Test runs for their respective countries.
How many times has the Border-Gavaskar Trophy been played?
Since the series was renamed, India and Australia have locked horns 15 times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India have captured the trophy nine times while the Baggy Green could only muster five series triumphs. In 2003-04, the series ended in a draw.
India's dominance
India's dominance over Australia in Border-Gavaskar series is glaring. Overall, India is ahead of Australia when it comes to winning the series but the team's dominance over the Baggy Greens in the last seven years stands out the most. India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy three times in a row over the last seven years. In 2016-17, India defeated Australia 2-1 in the four-Test series at home. In 2018-19 and 2020-21, India defeated Australia Down Under by a margin of 2-1 on both the occasions.
