Opinion
In the past 20 years, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has reached new heights in terms of the quality in cricket and the intensity. With that in mind, here are my most iconic moments from past series.
While I started watching cricket in 2008, I do not remember much from the 2008 editions of the BGT and have started from the 2010 edition onwards.
Having set India 216 for victory in the first Test, Australia were two good balls away from victory as the Indians fell to 8/124.
The Indian crowd was shocked on day five as memories of the 2004 series started to play on their minds. But the Aussies still had not dismissed VVS Laxman, a man who had tormented the Aussies enough in his career. Laxman was injured and all he had left with him was Ishant Sharma and Praghyan Ojha.
Laxman started swinging his bat and flaying boundaries with ease. The injured superstar finished with 73* off just 79 deliveries as India won a thriller by one wicket.
India were in a sniff after being bowled out for 191 in the second Test, as the Aussies fell to 3/37 late on day one. Enter skipper Michael Clarke.
Clarke played the innings of his life as the SCG wicket got easier to bat on. The Aussie skipper gave the Indian bowlers nightmares, particularly with his leg glance almost getting him 100 runs. Clarke smashed his way to 329 not out, before declaring with a lead of 468.
India lost by an innings and 68 runs at the SCG. Two Tests later, Clarke smashed 210 off 275 balls – taking the Aussies out of a danger position to a dominant 4-0 series win.
After losing the first Test in Chennai, Australia’s outing with the bat in the second Test was nonetheless poor.
Bar a 145 run stand between Michael Clarke (91) and Matthew Wade (62), Australia had nothing to show with the bat at all.
Late on day one with Australia 9/237, Clarke decided to declare and have a late crack at India. It backfired heavily with Murali Vijay (167) and Cheteshwar Pujara (204) putting on 370 for the second wicket as India went on to win by an innings and 135 runs. India later went on to win the 2013 BGT 4-0.
(Steve Christo/Corbis via Getty Images)
Following the death of Phillip Hughes, the first Test between Australia and India was an emotional game for both teams at Adelaide Oval. In a run test where we saw five centuries and four fifties scored in the first three innings of the Test, India were tasked to chase 364 in 98 overs on the final day.
Virat Kohli (141) and Murali Vijay (99) led the way with brilliant day five innings on a turning Adelaide pitch, as the Indians needed 122 runs with eight wickets left in the shed. India were about to pull off an unlikely run chase. But Nathan Lyon had other ideas.
The off spinner removed Vijay and triggered a collapse as India were bowled out for 315 late on day five. Australia would go on to win the series 2-0, which was also remembered for MS Dhoni retiring from Test cricket midway through the series and the Kohli era starting.
After a dominating victory in Pune, Australia started the second Test well in Bengaluru as the Indians were all over the shop in their own den.
But the Indians were doing just enough to keep themselves in the contest, setting Australia 188 to win. An Australia victory would see the Border-Gavaskar Trophy stay in Australia, even if India came back to draw the series.
Australia were 3/74 in the 21st over and the game right in the balance on day four. Umesh Yadav got one to shoot low and trap Steve Smith on the pad, which was given out LBW. Smith was unsure on whether to review and in the heat of the moment, gestured towards the Aussie dressing room on whether he should review.
Umpire Nigel Llong intervened before a discretion could occur as Smith was sent walking. Smith’s brain fade got the Indians fired up as Ravichandran Ashwin’s 6fer saw the Indians win by 75 runs.
All it took was one mental mistake for the Indians to believe that no one could win a series against them. Australia had many other moments in the third and fourth Test to win the series, but they could not finish it off. India had won the mental battle in Bengaluru due to the Aussie skipper’s brain fade, and they rode on that wave for the rest of the series.
With Australia missing Steve Smith and David Warner, India had a golden opportunity to win a Test series in Australia for the first time. All the talk was on captain Virat Kohli to step up with the bat after brilliant tours of South Africa and England. Instead, the 2018/19 Border Gavaskar Trophy was the Cheteshwar Pujara show.
Pujara scored three centuries in seven innings, bailing India out of trouble in Adelaide with a match winning ton before scoring another match winning hundred in Melbourne.
Pujara finished the series with 193 at the SCG. Pujara was the least flashiest player with the bat amongst both sides, but he tired the Aussie bowlers on not getting out before cashing in on the bowler’s spells later in the day.
Pujara finished the series with the most runs in the series (521), with the highest run scorer in the Aussies being Marcus Harris (258).
Before the ODI series between Australia and India kicked off in November, net bowler Ishan Porel had injured himself and flew back to his home city of Kolkata. And before the injury woes had properly begun to hurt India, there was the unthinkable 36 all out.
But to be fair, it was not even poor batting. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood had the ball on a string and only two of the dismissals (Shaw and Kohli) were due to poor shots.
Despite the 1-0 lead, Australia had not played their best cricket in Adelaide and needed to improve on their batting. And they paid for it with the Indian attack led by Jasprit Bumrah and supported by debutant Mohammad Siraj alongside two world class spinners strangled the Aussies at the MCG. Ajinkya Rahane scored his first Test century in a SENA nation since December 2014, as the Indians romped to an eight wicket victory.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Australia batted much better in Sydney courtesy of Steve Smith, setting India 407 to win in four sessions. India were on course to victory following a counter attacking 97 from Rishabh Pant, but his dismissal and Cheteshwar Pujara (77) getting bowled soon after gave the Aussies a huge opening with Ravindra Jadeja battling a bruised finger.
Ravichandran Ashwin was battling back pain while Hanuma Vihari did his hamstring. However, the pair never gave up and battled hard as India drew the Test and went to the series decider in Brisbane with bare resources, but plenty of fight.
Thangarusu Natarajan made the most of Porel’s injury with impressive outings on his ODI and T20 debuts. Alongside Siraj, debutant Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur (who was only playing his second Test), the Indian bowling attack did well to keep the Aussies below 400 on a good batting surface. Sundar and Thakur fought with the bat to get the Indians with a first innings deficit below 50, before India were set 328 for victory.
India could have been contempt with a draw as the trophy would have remained in India then, but they still went for the win. Shubman Gill (91), a bruised and battered Cheteshwar Pujara (56) and Rishabh Pant (89*) played the innings of their lives as India won by three wickets and won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.
Any other Test team would have struggled to compete, let alone win a Test in Australia with that many injuries. But the Indians had plenty of belief, skill and the willingness to mentally fight and remain in the battle. Test cricket may never see a miracle like this for at least a decade imo.
But at the same time, we can see how competitive the Border-Gavaskar series have become. While it may not have the history that surrounds the Ashes, it definitely has been more competitive than the Ashes since its inception.
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The Aussie needed every centimetre of his height and reach to reel that one in!
