We continue on our journey down the memory lane to look at the past series contested between India and Australia. In the third instalment, Arunabha Sengupta covers the six Test series played between 1991 and 2004.
13. India in Australia 1991-92 Australia 4 India 0
By the time India travelled to Australia again, things had changed drastically. The hosts, having painstakingly rebuilt their team into a fighting unit, were on their way to becoming the best in the world. India, on the other hand, was a motley mixture of aging stalwarts towards the end of their cricketing days and at least one future great just starting out on his blazing journey across the cricket world.
But as a team, the Indians failed to click. The batsmen took their time to adjust to the pace, bounce and competitiveness of the Australians. And when they did start performing, weather — and on at least some crucial occasions umpires — got in their way.
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In the end, it is fair to say, the Indian batsmen surrendered to Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Bruce Reid and Mike Whitney, all four at the peak of their careers. Except for the brilliant 18-year-old Sachin Tendulkar — and Ravi Shastri who played the first three Tests and had his figures boosted by a 206 to his name — no specialist batsman averaged more than 22.
The series started with a one sided rout at The Gabba, the abject surrender to McDermott and Hughes setting the tone for the series. At MCG the tale was repeated, Bruce Reid joining the party with 12 wickets.
Veteran Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar had bowled superbly so far, but the Australian batsmen had been far more resolute than the Indians. Things changed on a slower wicket at Sydney. After the Australians had once again started on a high note, the two Indian pacers, along with young Subroto Banerjee, restricted the hosts to 313.
The home teamblooded a young, chubby, blonde leg-spinner called Shane Warne, and he returned with figures of one for 150. Shastri batted nine and a half hours for 206, Tendulkar five for an unbeaten 148. However, after rain had allowed little play on Day Four, the tourists allowed the innings to run its full course on the final morning.
Still, the 170-run lead seemed an imposing one as the pacers struck quickly. With the pitch offering assistance to spinners, Indians were handicapped by the choice of a four pace attack. However, called upon to bowl,Shastri sent down his by now rarely used spinners quite cannily. He snapped up three wickets to reduce Australia to 114 for six. But Hughes stuck around stubbornly with captain Allan Border. Although Tendulkar dismissed the big fast bowler in the final moments, poor light brought an end to the Test with Australia on 173 for eight (though exactly why Mohammad Azharuddin did not give Banerjee a bowl in this innings remains unknown).
Sadly, Shastri picked up an injury in the intervening One Day tri-series and did not play in the Tests again.
Charged up by this excellent performance in the third Test, the Indians went into the Adelaide Test with a lot of spring in their steps.
Some excellent bowling by Kapil and Venkatapathy Raju restricted Australia to 145. McDermott and Hughes struck back, but some spirited rallying by the late order gave India a vital 80-run lead. By the end of the third day, Kapil had bowled Geoff Marsh and a vociferous appeal for leg before against David Boon had been turned down for some unknown reason. The next day, Boon and Mark Taylor added 221.The twin hundreds were followed by Border scoring a determined unbeaten 91. India ended the fourth day on 31 for no loss, with 341 more to get on the final day.
Try they did. Four leg-before decisions went against them, at least two atrocious ones. But, Azhar, thus far a failure on the tour, produced a magical hundred. Prabhakar dug in to essay a gutsy innings. With 89 to win and four wickets in hand, it still looked evenly poised. However, with the new ball McDermott dismissed Azhar. Prabhakar got a horrible decision. India fell 38 runs short.
The final Test brought forth the dismal end of this pathetic series for India, with one final gilded flash in the squalid tale. Another Boon hundred helped Australia to 346, and soon India were struggling again. And this time young Tendulkar stood among the ruins, striking the ball spectacularly in his glittering gem of 114 as the rest of the batting collapsed around him.
The second innings saw further humiliation piled on the Indians as they meekly surrendered to a 4-0 series loss, with Whitney taking seven for 27 to inflict a 300-run defeat. However, two lasting legends had been unearthed in the process.
14. Australia in India 1996-97 India 1 Australia 0
When Australia returned to India, the landscape of Indian cricket had changed. Tendulkar was now captain, and the solitary Test was his first one at the helm. Besides, a young batting nucleus had been formed, along with a spin department that could be counted upon to demolish any opposition on home turf.
The ball turned from Day One at the Kotla on a bone dry turf. Anil Kumble was almost unplayable, while Sunil Joshi and Aashish Kapoor proved to be a handful as well. The Australian innings was a four and a half hour struggle and yielded 182.
In response, India started the innings with wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia used as makeshift opener. In the end he was eighth out with the score on 353, having batted 497 minutes for 152, the highest he would ever make in Test cricket.
With a deficit of 179 bearing down on them, the Australians had neither the skill nor the will to make a match of it. Michael Slater slashed wildly at the second ball he faced and was taken unbelievably by Azharuddin at slip. It was the start of another tale of woe. Kumble snapped up five for 67 and the only reason they reached 234 was a dogged unbeaten 67 by Steve Waugh. In the end, India needed just 56 and got there with plenty to spare.
15. Australia in India 1997-98 India 2 Australia 1
Azhar led India once again when Australia returned. And without the pressures of captaincy, Tendulkar’s genius emerged unrestrained and with mesmerising effect.
On the third afternoon at Chepauk, India actually trailed by 71 after the initial exchanges; and on the fourth day the series was decided through an absolute gem.
Warne had come to the country with promises to out-spin the Indian tweakers. And the threat of that champion bowler was reduced to nothing by a synchronised attack. First Navjot Sidhu stepped down the wicket and lofted sixes with élan.
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And then it was the turn of the master. Tendulkar hit 14 fours and four sixes in a 191-ball unbeaten 155, and it proved to be the knockout punch. All Warne went back with were nightmares. The Chennai Test was turned on its head and won by 179 runs.
At Kolkata, every Indian batsman manhandled the Australian leggie. Tendulkar led the way, lofting him over mid-wicket for six during the last over before tea, racing to an 86-ball 79. Azharuddin caressed his way to 163. VVS Laxman, Sidhu, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly all got fifties. India declared five down with a lead of 400. Mark Taylor’s men could only manage 181 against the guile of Kumble.
When Tendulkar had scored 177 from 207 deliveries at Bangalore, and India had piled up 424, a clean sweep seemed on the cards. It was only the absence of Javagal Srinath from the line up and Mark Waugh’s career best score of 153 not out that helped Australia to get within striking range of the total.
On the fifth morning, the Indians collapsed to Michael Kasprowicz. Skipper Taylor ended a disappointing series with some consolation with a hundred as Australia chased down the required 194.
16. India in Australia 1999-2000 Australia 3 India 0
Tendulkar was back on the hot seat as India visited Australia after a gap of eight years. The team was a promising lot.There was a genius batsman in the captain, a lot of young, eager men with the willow, decent fast-medium bowlers and a great spinner who was yet to find his groove abroad.
However, in the end, it all collapsed. The batting was woefully short of quality openers. The middle order, barring Tendulkar, seemed totally unsuited to the Australian pitches. The bowling looked increasingly toothless as the series progressed.
India started off well at Adelaide Oval, reducing Australia to 52 for four. But then Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting added 239 for the fifth wicket and things turned bleak for India. It remained that way.
In the end, after a moderate outing in the first innings, they failed to bat out the final four sessions. In fact they lasted just 12 overs on the final day. Skipper Tendulkar, who had scored 61 in the first innings, was not amused when given out leg before for a duck after being struck on the helmet while ducking a bouncer in the second innings.
It was Tendulkar who stood alone among the ruins of MCG. The rest of the batting just fell away as the master stroked his way to an impeccable 116 out of 238. But, the Australians had clinched a 167-run lead and finally won by 180. Tendulkar was the lone soldier yet again in the second essay, scoring 52, but with little support from the other end.
The same story was repeated in the first innings at SCG. Tendulkar struck eight fours in his 52-ball 45 before being given out to a questionable leg before decision. No one else put up any resistance and India finished with 150. A Justin Langer double hundred and another Ponting hundred saw Australia post 552 in response.
With nothing to play for, all the Indians surrendered but for one man. Laxman, coming off four single digit scores, struck a scintillating 167 out of a total score of 261. It was scant consolation for a 3-0 rout, but another batting master had stamped his class and Australians would suffer from his blade through the next decade.
17. Australia in India 2000-01 India 2 Australia 1
The best series ever contested? Perhaps not. But, right up there with the most dramatic.
The all-conquering Australian team arrived in the quest of storming the final frontier. They had all but succeeded when thwarted by a miracle that became the watershed moment of Indian cricket.
In the beginning it looked like yet another of those familiar tales, when major cricketing powers came across the Indian one man army in the form of Tendulkar and won against the heroism as the rest fell away.
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At Wankhede, India were bowled out for 176 while Tendulkar stood alone plundering 76 impeccable runs. The Indian spin attack, severely depleted without Anil Kumble, struck back to have Australia tottering at 99 for five. At that moment captain Ganguly introduced Tendulkar into the attack and Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist merrily hit their way out of trouble. The resulting lead amounted to 173. In the second innings Tendulkar counterattacked fiercely before a full blooded pull struck the shoulder of short leg and was taken by a diving Ponting at mid-wicket. The Indian resistance ended and Australia had won their 16th straight Test match.
They were on course to winning the next one at Eden in spite of Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick on the first day. Steve Waugh’s hundred helped them along to 445 and India were dismissed for 171 in their first innings. Following on, they sent in Laxman at No 3 in a famous move. By the end of the third day, the maestro from Hyderabad had posted a hundred and India stood at 254 for four. A respectable score but Australia needed just one more wicket to get among the tail. The champagne was being stocked in the dressing room.
And then followed the incredible fourth day. Laxman and Dravid batted through the six hours, adding 335 runs. It was not only a fantastic rearguard action, it was scripted with all the artistic splendour of Laxman’s willow while Dravid stood solid at one end. When Laxman departed for 281 on the fifth morning, the stand was worth 376. India declared 383 ahead, Australia requiring to bat out two sessions and a bit.
Now Harbhajan made them turn and bounce, and Tendulkar got his googlies to befuddle three batsmen in quick succession. Australia lost seven wickets after tea, and a roar split the air as umpire Bansal’s upraised finger signalled the end of McGrath’s resistance.It was only the third time a team had won a Test match after following on.
In the decider at Chennai, Matthew Hayden hit back with 203 but Harbhajan followed up his 13-wicket haul at Eden with seven first innings wickets. Still, Australia’s 391 looked imposing. The Indian batsmen responded in a combined spate of big scores. Tendulkar held the innings together with 126, Sadagoppan Ramesh, SS Das, Laxman and Dravid all scored 50s. The Indian innings ended on the fourth morning at 501.
By the end of the day, Australia were seven down and just 131 ahead, the match poised most precariously. On the final morning Harbhajan picked up the final three wickets quickly enough and stood proudly on the pitch he had conquered with his spin. His 15 for the match took his series tally to 33. The next spot was shared by Zaheer Khan and — well — Tendulkar, with three each. But the Turbanator had a further role to play in the match.
India needed 155 to win, and cruised to 101 for two. And then suddenly they stumbled. Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid were dismissed one after the other, and Laxman was brilliantly held by Mark Waugh off a genuine pull. Sairaj Bahutule lasted three balls. The score tottered at 135 for seven.
Samir Dighe, the debutant wicketkeeper, now put his head down and demonstrated nerves of steel. He got the runs steadily, picking up singles and slashing the occasional boundary. Zaheer departed at 151, but Harbhajan was the ideal man to come in and finish it off. He did it in his own unique style, first with a stroke resembling the forehand cross court to mid off for a single and then an audacious steer off a near yorker past point for two. The stadium erupted.
A fantastic series had been decided by a wafer-thin margin.
18. India in Australia 2003-04 Australia 1 India 1
By now Australia against India had developed into titanic contests. When India arrived in late 2003, there were further reasons for the great rivalry to go on unimpeded.
India, traditionally poor travellers, were welcomed by the withdrawal of McGrath and Brett Lee from the bowling line up due to injury. Warne, not the same easy meat for the Indian batsmen when bowling in Australia, was serving a ban. The resultant attack fielded by the home side was one of the weakest in the last 20 years. The series was thus reduced to a slugging match between two great batting sides, with rather ordinary bowling attacks. By the time Lee returned to play in MCG, India had taken the lead.
At The Gabba, when Dravid and Tendulkar had been dismissed within the space of three balls, the latter through a curious Steve Bucknor dismissal, it seemed that India would struggle in their traditional manner in the first Test of an overseas series. However, captain Ganguly stepped up and threw his bat about without restraint. He hit the middle often enough and the 144 was perhaps the most important innings in his career. The match ended in a draw.
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In the second Test at Adelaide, Australia ended the first day at 400 for five. On Day Two, Ponting’s 242 propelled them to 556 and soon India had lost Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Tendulkar and Ganguly with 85 on the board. And now Dravid and Laxman collaborated on their second miracle, adding 303. By the time Dravid had been the last out for a personal score of 233, India trailed by just 33.
When Australia batted again, Ajit Agarkar bowled an inspired spell to claim his only five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Tendulkar dismissed Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn within the space of three runs. The Australian side inexplicably collapsed for 196, leaving India to get 230. Dravid held the innings together with an unbeaten 72 and the target was reached with four wickets to spare. India had won their first Test in Australia in 23 years.
In spite of Lee’s return, an hour after tea on the first day at Melbourne India looked all set to take the series. The score stood at 278 for one with Sehwag pulverising the attack, having gone past 150 from just 200 balls.
But then Dravid fell to the innocuous Steve Waugh, Tendulkar lasted just one ball. Sehwag, on 195, tried to hit a Simon Katich full-toss over the longest boundary of the enormous ground and holed out. The next morning, Indians fell for 366 and by the end of the day Australia had romped to 317 for three.
Ponting’s second successive double hundred helped Australia post 558. Most Indian batsmen got starts but none could go on to play the big innings required. The 286-run second innings total was far from adequate. Australia squared the series with nine wickets to spare.
At SCG, Tendulkar changed his strategy. The cover drive had brought about his downfall in the previous innings. He decided to cut it totally out of his repertoire. The result was a then career-best innings of 241 not out scored over a ten hour vigil. Laxman timed the ball supremely to coast to 178.The two added 353. India declared on the third morning at 705 for seven.
The Australian response was built around centuries by Langer and Katich, while Kumble pegged away at the wickets. The legendary leggie accounted for eight batsmen and the hosts ended their innings at 474.
The follow on was not enforced. India looked for quick runs. They got them too, scoring at 4.86 for their 211. Dravid, on 91, was struck on the ear by a Lee snorter, and it made Ganguly call his batsmen in. Should the declaration come earlier? Perhaps.
Australia managed to bat out the last day, thanks mainly to an opportunity missed by the teenaged wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. In his final Test match, Steve Waugh played a crucial three-hour innings of 80 while Katich remained unbeaten on 77. The hosts ended on 357 for six and another great series came to an end with the honours shared.
(Arunabha Senguptais a cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry.He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. The author of three novels, he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senantix)
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