The Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023: India’s Dominance at Home, Mixed Results Abroad.

India won the inaugural one-match series in 1996, defeating Australia on the strength of Nayan Mongia’s 152. This was also Sachin Tendulkar’s first Test match as captain. The 1996 series also marked the beginning of India’s dominance over Australia at home. Since 1996, India has won 16 of the 25 Tests played at home, losing only five and drawing the rest.
To put things in perspective, India had won only five of the previous 25 home Tests. The home dominance of Team India peaked during the 2012-13 series, when the MS Dhoni-led team defeated the visitors 4-0 for the first time. Team India’s dominance is highlighted even more when considering the period between 2005 and 2017, during which they lost only one Test match – in Pune in 2017.
Team India’s only defeat on home soil came in 2004, when they were defeated 2-1. From Ricky Ponting, the tournament’s second-highest run scorer, in the 2000s to David Warner today, Australian batters have struggled on India’s turning tracks. The twisting tracks also didn’t help spin wizard Shane Warne, who averaged 43 in India. Nathan Lyon is the sole exception, with 34 wickets at a healthy average of 30.
In Australia, fortunes have been mixed. While Team India has been dominant at home, they have had mixed results in Australia. Between 1999-2000 (the first overseas Border Gavaskar Series) and 2014-15, India only won two Tests: Adelaide in 2003 and Perth in 2008.
India was also humiliated twice in Australia, in 1999-2000 and 2011-12. The decline of India’s batting ‘quartet’ – Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, and Laxman – was visible in the latter series. Dravid and Laxman never appeared in an international game for India.
The 2014-15 series saw Kohli emerge as a captain-batter, but it is now remembered more for Dhoni’s unexpected Test retirement. India was defeated 2-0 in the series, with both Kohli and Dhoni losing and drawing one Test each.
source: genuine t.tHowever, under Kohli, India made history by becoming the first Asian team to win a series in Australia in 2018-19. Cheteshwar Pujara (521 runs) and Jasprit Bumrah (21 wickets) were the unsung heroes of this unprecedented feat. However, Australia was missing their two most important batters, Steve Smith and David Warner.
After a humiliating defeat in the first Test in Adelaide two years prior, India made a dramatic comeback in the series. This Test became famous because Team India was bowled out for 36 runs, their lowest ever team total. For India, the next three Tests were nothing short of a fairy tale.
The Border Gavaskar Trophy has witnessed individual brilliance on numerous occasions, which not only saved the team but also resurrected failing careers.