INDIA VS AUSTRALIA: A TOUR OF THE GAME FROM THE DESK OF SPORTSLIBRO

SPORTSLIBRO CRICKETLATEST CRICKET NEWS

Table Of Content

It has always been a defined match or series whenever it comes up with a tag India vs Australia, the intensity and lava that flows deep inside can be detected if u are true sports fanatic

Border-Gavaskar trophy as we all know is a very challenging and reputed trophy kept under the names of the two living legends of both the countries and it gets high amount of response as because it is India vs Australia

The Border–Gavaskar Trophy is a Test cricket series, played between India vs Australia. It has witnessed some of the most competitive Test series played in recent years, with a number of results being a narrow win for one of the sides or a closely fought draw. It is currently played via the International Cricket Council’s future tours program, with varying lengths of time between matches. If the series is drawn, then the country holding the trophy retains it. The series is named after Australia’s Allan Border and India’s Sunil Gavaskar, who both scored over 10,000 Test runs in their career and captained their respective teams and were the original world record holders for most runs scored in Test match cricket.

The first Border–Gavaskar Trophy series between India vs Australia was played in India the 1996–97 season and was won by the hosts 1–0. Australia won the trophy for the first time in the 1999–00 season at home where they defeated India 3–0. Since then, the trophy has alternated between both the teams. Australia’s failure to win the Border–Gavaskar Trophy in India led to Steve Waugh dubbing the Indian tour as the “Final Frontier” for the Australian team. In 2004–05, Australia defeated India 2–1 in India. Australia’s usual captain, Ricky Ponting, did not play in the winning matches due to injury and Adam Gilchrist instead captained the winning sides. In the 2008–09 edition, India defeated Australia 2–0 in a four match series in India to regain the trophy. In 2010 India retained the trophy by winning the two match series 2–0. Australia won the 2011–12 series 4–0, and regained the trophy for the first time since 2007–08. India returned the favour in the 2013 series by completing a 4–0 “whitewash” of Australia to regain the trophy, before losing it in the 2014–15 series with a 2–0 defeat. India then won the 2017 series 2-1 and regained the trophy.

Cricketing contests between India vs Australia have always been of high intensity. The importance of the series is also fuelled by Australia’s desire to beat India in India in a Test match series, which, until their victory in the 2004–05 series, they had not done so since 1969–70. India has developed a reputation of being particularly difficult to beat at home, having lost only two test series since 1986–87. Conversely, India have never managed to win a test series in Australia. The competitiveness of the series played between the two sides is also reflected in the fact that in both 2000–01 and 2007–08, it was India who ended Australia’s runs of 16 consecutive test wins.

Matches in India are commonly described with labels like final frontier or iconic event. The test series held in India in 2000–01 was labelled the final frontier by Steven Waugh and it lived up to its reputation. Applauded by many as the greatest test series of modern times only rivalled by the 2005 Ashes series, it had the closest result in decades with India overpowering the mighty Australians in the final session of the final test at Chennai. The series also gave the cricketing world three champion cricketers in Hayden, Harbhajan & Laxman who were relatively unknown or under-performing till then. They were the cornerstones of the series and the duals between Laxman & Australian bowlers on the one hand; and Harbhajan & Hayden on the other are often termed the most engrossing player rivalries in a test series of cricket. The series was played in the backdrop of the death of legendary Sir Donald Bradman who was quoted as saying that he was very much looking forward to the series and had high expectations of both the teams.

Disputes that occurred when the two legendary team India vs Australia met each other on various occasions;

The second Test witnessed a controversy when the Australian team was accused of having taken help from the dressing room  between India vs Australia test match using the Umpire Decision Review System (DRS). Australia’s captain Steve Smith admitted to having looked in the direction of the dressing room for assistance when he was given out leg before wicket (lbw) off Umesh Yadav when he was on 28 by the on-field umpire Nigel Llong, who, immediately intervened to send him back and denying a referral. India’s captain Virat Kohli, in his post-match interview, accused the team of having done that on at least three occasions; once as Smith was declared lbw, and twice as he batted, which he stated to having pointed out to the umpires. As the controversy broke out, Australia’s Peter Handscomb tweeted admitting to have “referred” Smith to “look at the box”. Picking on Smith having played down the incident terming it a “brain fade”, Kohli said, “Honestly, if someone makes a mistake while batting, for me, personally, that’s a brain fade.But if something is going on for three days, then that’s not a brain fade, as simple as that.” 

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann dismissed Kohli’s allegations and responded that his team “never, ever, ever  sought the dressing room’s assistance. The CEO of Cricket Australia (CA), James Sutherland called the criticism “outrageous” and said, “We reject any commentary that suggests our integrity was brought into disrepute or that systemic unfair tactics are used, and stand by Steve and the Australian cricketers who are proudly representing our country.” The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) responded with a statement: “BCCI has requested the ICC (International Cricket Council) to take cognizance of the fact that Smith admitted to a ‘brain fade’ at that moment. BCCI sincerely hopes that the rest of the matches are played in the true spirit of cricket. The ICC said it would not “press charges” against either teams or captains and added that ahead of the third Test, the match referee would “bring both captains together to remind them of their responsibilities to the game”. However, the BCCI filed an official complaint against Steve Smith and Peter Handscomb with the ICC. 

The relation of Australia & India in terms of the sports Cricket:

One of the prominent ties is a shared love of cricket. In 1945, the Australian Services cricket team toured India during their return to Australia for demobilization, and played against the Indian cricket team. However, those matches were not given Test status. The first Test matches between the countries occurred in 1947–48 after the independence of India, when India toured Australia and played five Tests. Australia won 4–0 and as a result, the Australian Board of Control did not invite the Indians back for two decades, fearing that a series of one-sided contests would lead to financial losses due to lack of spectator interest. In the meantime, Australia toured India in late 1956, 1959–60 and 1964–65.

The 1969–70 series in India, which Australia won, were marred by repeated riots. Some were against the Australian team specifically, after the Indian umpires had ruled against the Indian team, while others were not related to on-field conduct, such as a lack of tickets. Several players were hit by projectiles, including captain Bill Lawry, who was hit with a chair. On one occasion, the Australian bus was stoned. The Communist Party of India (CPI), a major political party in West Bengal, protested against Australian batsman Doug Walters, who they mistakenly thought had fought against the communist Vietcong. Around 10,000 communists picketed the Australians’ hotel in Calcutta and some eventually broke in and vandalised it. Towards the end of the tour, many former Australian players, some of them administrators, called for the tour to be abandoned for safety reasons, saying that cricket should not descend into violence. 

From 1970 until 1996, Australia only toured India twice for Tests. However, with the financial rise of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Australia, the country with the most successful playing record in the world, has sought more regular fixtures. Test series have occurred every two years for the last decade, and one-day series even more frequently. Scholarships are also given to talented young Indian cricketers to train at the Australian Cricket Academy.

In January 2008, relations became strained after the second test in Sydney. The match, which ended in a last-minute Australian victory, was marred by a series of umpiring controversies, and belligerent conduct between some of the players. At the end of the match, Harbhajan Singh was charged with racially abusing Andrew Symonds, who had been subjected to monkey chants by Indian crowds on a tour a few months earlier. Harbhajan was initially found guilty and given a ban,  and the Board of Control for Cricket in India threatened to cancel the tour. Harbhajan’s ban was later repealed upon appeal and the tour continued. Both teams were heavily criticised for their conduct. During Australia’s tour in India there were a number of controversies instigated on both sides, culminating in Virat Kohli saying his friendship with Australia coming to an end. He later clarified the comments and said “I thought that was the case, but it has changed for sure. As I said, in the heat of the battle you want to be competitive but I’ve been proven wrong. The thing I said before the first Test [about being mates with Australia], that has certainly changed and you won’t hear me say that ever again. 

However cricket, and more recently Indian Premier League has been considered “the lifeblood of the Australia-India relationship”,and Australian cricketers like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee are immensely popular among the Indian people. Likewise, Sachin Tendulkar is highly regarded among Australian cricket lovers