Maybe it’s just coincidence, but the institution of a trophy for what till then was a largely one-sided rivalry has changed the dynamics of India-Australia Test cricket.
In recognition of the services to the sport and to their respective trophies, the cricket boards of India and Australia decided that from 1996 onwards, the two countries would battle it out in Test cricket for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Allan Border oversaw one of the most difficult transitional phases for Australia in the mid-80s, eventually taking them to the 1987 World Cup title and helping them turn the corner, while Sunil Gavaskar is India’s first true batting legend, a magnificent amalgam of technique, temperament and pride that made him the first batter to reach 10,000 Test runs.
Australia had lorded several of the exchanges between the sides until that point, primarily at home, but in the last few decades, there has been a greater levelling of the field. India can lay claim to bossing the recent faceoffs, keeping the trophy in their possession since 2017 when they scored a hard-fought 2-1 triumph at home. Since then, they have grabbed the last three series too by identical score lines, including twice in Australia. Having waited 71 years for their first series win Down Under in 2018-19, India reprised their heroics two years later with a severely depleted side in arguably the greatest moment in Test cricket for India, home or away.
Recency bias will perhaps tilt the scales towards the astonishing Gabba heist in 2021 as the most storied chapter in what is unfurling into an epic battle. Brisbane hosted the fourth and final match of the Covid-affected series with the teams level 1-1. India had rallied from being shot out for 36 in the first Test, and the loss after that drubbing of skipper Virat Kohli (paternity leave) and Mohammed Shami (broken forearm) to snatch a sensational Ajinkya Rahane-inspired victory in the next game at the MCG. At the SCG, Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin defied the hosts for nearly 45 overs on the last afternoon to fashion a commendable draw, which took the teams to Brisbane all square.
Australia hadn’t lost at the Gabba for 33 years, but that was to change. India, with two debutants – Washington Sundar and T Natarajan – and minus more than half the XI that started the series, kept finding a way back from tight spots through greenhorns who played above themselves. Their heroes were manifold – Natarajan, Washington, Shardul Thakur, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj and Shubman Gill – but the most luminous star was Rishabh Pant, by then already a cult figure in Australia.
With the maturity of a seasoned campaigner and the chutzpah that only comes to a few, he masterminded an extraordinary chase of 328, a Gabba record, with an unbeaten 89 that drove the daggers deep into hardened Aussie hearts. It was Pant at his versatile best, taking his time to bed in and then playing strokes that others can only dream of even in T20 cricket. The boundary he drilled to long-off off Josh Hazlewood to herald the three-wicket win will go down as the most significant four in Indian cricket history.
The Test match that changed the landscape of India-Australia cricket
Until the Gabba miracle, Eden 2001 was the most celebrated Indian triumph in Tests. Australia were sitting on a world record-equalling streak of 16 Test wins, had crushed India by an innings inside three days in Mumbai and enjoyed a massive lead of 274 after the first-innings skirmishes in Kolkata. India’s fans were reconciling themselves to another rout when VVS Laxman, promoted to No. 3, cut loose in the company of the man he replaced at the one-drop position, Rahul Dravid. For an entire day, they first resisted, then mastered Steve Waugh’s side that included bowling great Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
Their 376-run alliance gave India an unbelievable lead of 383, after which Harbhajan Singh got down to work. In the first innings, the off-spinner had become the first Indian to take a Test hat-trick on his way to seven for 123. He took six for 73 in the second while Sachin Tendulkar weighed in with the scalps of Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Warne – leg before with a googly, no less – as India conjured an incredible 171-run steal. Victory in another tense showdown in Chennai and the comeback was complete in a series for the ages.
One of the less hailed Indian successes came at the WACA ground in Perth in January 2008, immediately on the back of the ‘Monkeygate’ fracas in the previous game in Sydney. Australia threatened India with Shaun Tait, the wild thing. India tamed him, the alien conditions and a hostile crowd with nerves of steel, oodles of determination and plenty of fire under the admirable Anil Kumble. For those who were in Perth in 2008, the events of those four days in searing heat will remain fresh in memory. Forever.
