Published: Dec 10, 2018, 11:24 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 10, 2018, 11:24 AM (IST)
Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team has made history by becoming the first to start a tour of Australia by wining the first Test of a series. India beat Australia by 31 runs on Monday at Adelaide Oval to go up 1-0 in the four-match series, marking a rare achievement in 72 years of Indian cricket teams visiting Australia.
The last time this happened in any of the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries was December 2006 when Rahul Dravid’s team beat South Africa by 123 runs in Johannesburg.
ALSO READ: Jasprit Bumrah bowls India to historic Test win in Adelaide
This is India’s sixth win on Australian soil, after wins in 1977-78 (two), 1981-82, 2003-04 and 2007-08. No Indian team has ever won a Test series in the country. Three series have been drawn: in 1981-82, 1985-86 and 2003-04.
INDIA’S TEST WINS IN AUSTRALIA
| Margin | Toss | Bat | Venue | Season |
| 222 runs | Won | 1st | Melbourne | 1977-78 |
| Inns & 2 runs | Lost | 2nd | Sydney | 1977-78 |
| 59 runs | Lost | 1st | Melbourne | 1980-81 |
| 4 wickets | Lost | 2nd | Adelaide | 2003-04 |
| 72 runs | Won | 1st | Perth | 2007-08 |
| 31 runs | Won | 1st | Adelaide | 2018-19 |
The first time a touring Indian team won the first Test of a series was in February 1968 when MAK Pataudi’s men beat New Zealand by five wickets in Dunedin. That victory put Pataudi’s team on the way to a landmark 3-0 sweep of New Zealand.
ALSO READ: Super six: India’s Test victories in Australia
The second instance also came in New Zealand, during the 1975-76 tour when Sunil Gavaskar’s team beat the hosts by eight wickets in Auckland. At Lord’s in June 1986, Kapil Dev led India to victory over England by five wickets in a series that they went on to win.
The fourth instance was in Johannesburg on India’s 2006-07 tour of South Africa.
Kohli has become the fourth Indian captain to win a Test match in the country after Bishan Singh Bedi, Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble.
