Border-Gavaskar Trophy
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The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Cricket is associated with Test series clashes between India and Australia. It is named after the cricketing legends Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, from Australia and India respectively.
The first Border-Gavaskar Trophy was played for in the 1996/97 season, which was won by India. After winning the 2004-2005 series in India, Australia holds this trophy.
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Trophy History
| Year | Played in | Result (Margin) | Player of the series |
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| 1996-1997 | India | Won by India (1-0) | Nayan Mongia |
| 1997-1998 | India | Won by India (2-1) | Sachin Tendulkar |
| 1999-2000 | Australia | Won by Australia (3-0) | Sachin Tendulkar |
| 2000-2001 | India | Won by India (2-1) | Harbhajan Singh |
| 2003-2004 | Australia | Series drawn (1-1) | Rahul Dravid |
| 2004-2005 | India | Won by Australia (2-1) | Damien Martyn |
Cricketing contests between the two nations have always been of high intensity. For this reason, and with the decline in England's performances since the 1980s, the Border-Gavaskar trophy is now considered by cricket fans in India and Australia to be equal to, if not better than, the traditional Ashes series contests between England and Australia. The importance of the series is also fueled by the Australian desire to defeat India in India in a Test match series (whenever the series is held in India.) A feat that, until the 2004-2005 season, had not been achieved by any team in the recent past and by Australia since 1969. In fact the 2000-2001 series actually ended Australia's record run of 16 non stop Test match wins. The series normally starts with sledging. Both Australian and Indian media hype up the event. Matches in India are commonly described with labels like final frontier or iconic event.
1996-97 series
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1997-98 series
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1999-00 series
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2000-01 series
The 2000-01 series was the most intense so far, and considered by many fans to be one of cricket's all-time classic confrontations, played over three gruelling Tests.
The First Test was played in Mumbai on 27 February-1 March 2001. The game was over in only three days as Australia dominated from the beginning, putting India in to bat and then dismissing them for only 176 runs. Glenn McGrath took 3-19 and Shane Warne 4-47, Sachin Tendulkar top scoring for India with 76. Australia responded with 349 on the backs of centuries by Matthew Hayden (119) and Adam Gilchrist (122). Harbhajan Singh took 4-121. India's second innings was barely better than their first, Tendulkar again top scoring with 65 in a total of 219. Needing only 47 runs to win, Australia's openers knocked them off in 7 overs, taking Australia to a 10 wicket victory and a 1-0 lead in the series.
The Second Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 11 March-15 March is regarded by many as without doubt one of the most exciting games ever played, although it began with Australia electing to bat and scoring 445, captain Steve Waugh contributing 110. Harbhajan Singh took 7-123. India's woes continued, being dismissed for only 171, with McGrath taking 4-18 in a brilliant bowling performance. Australia enforced the follow-on, and at the end of day 3 India were 254/4, still 20 runs behind forcing Australia to bat again. For many spectators, commentators, and even players, the match and the series were as good as lost for India.
The fourth day saw the turnaround. V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid batted the entire day, never offering a chance, and ran the Australian fielders ragged as Waugh called on nine different bowlers to try to break the partnership. Laxman and Dravid added 335 runs, taking India to 589/4 and a commanding lead in the game. In the process, Laxman set a new individual high score record for India, surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's 236. Laxman was finally dismissed the next day on 281. Dravid made 180, and India declared on day 5 at 657/7, setting Australia an almost impossible target of 384 runs. Australia crumbled under the suddenly reversed pressure and fell to Harbhajan Singh's 6-73 in reaching only 212 runs. India had come back from the dead and recorded a stunning 171-run victory to level the series 1-1.
The Third Test began at Chennai on 18 March with high expectations of a hard-fought series decider. Australia won the toss for the third time and elected to bat. Hayden batted through the first day for an eventual total of 203, but the rest of Australia's team contributed little to the total of 391. Again, Harbhajan Singh was the destroyer, taking 7-133. India pushed to 501 on the back of Tendulkar's 126. Australia ended day 4 at 241/7, a precarious lead of 131 runs. Early on day 5, Harbhajan again ran through the Australian tail, taking 8-84 and his series tally to an astounding 32 wickets, leaving Australia all out for 264. India had a target of 155 to chase, and plenty of time to do it. The only question was whether Australia's bowlers could get them out first. In 42 nail-biting overs, India steadily lost wickets, sinking to 135/7, a tantalising 20 runs short of victory, but in dire danger of losing their last batsmen before they could score them. The 8th wicket fell at 151, 4 runs short of victory, and it was left to wicket-keeper Sameer Dighe and, who else, Harbhajan Singh to see out the end. Fittingly, Harbhajan cut the winning runs past point and sealed the game and an incredible comeback series victory for India.
2003-04 series
The Indian cricket team toured Australia during November 2003 - February 2004, starting with a 4 Test series. [1] (http://www.cricket.org/db/ARCHIVE/2003-04/IND_IN_AUS/wci/IND_IN_AUS_NOV2003-FEB2004_SCHEDULE.html)
Before this tour, India had a poor record in Test matches away from home having won just 18 out of 176 tests.
The first Test match at Brisbane ended in a draw. India won the second Test at Adelaide but Australia bounced back to level the series at Melbourne. The fourth Test at Sydney was drawn. Rahul Dravid was adjudged the man of the series.
Following this was a tri-nation ODI series including Zimbabwe which was won by Australia.
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2004-05 series
The Australian cricket team toured India during October 2004 - November 2004 for a 4 test match series. This was probably Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath's last tour of India. They came with the desire to end Australia's 35 year drought of winning a Test Match series in India. Before this series India had performed poorly in tours of Sri-Lanka and the Netherlands, and in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Australia won the first test played at Bangalore comprehensively. The Indian batting order collapsed twice and they didn't look at any point that they could have made a match out of it. Michael Clarke, playing his first ever test match, scored 151 runs to take Australia to a commanding position. Harbhajan Singh took another 10 wicket haul (5-146 and 6-78) in the match. Anil Kumble took his 400th wicket. Clarke was awarded Man Of The Match.
Being 1-0 down in the series, India started the second test match played between 14-18 October 2004 at Chennai on a positive note. The got rid of Australia in the first innings for a mere 235 runs. Earlier, Justin Langer (71) and Matthew Hayden (58) started the Australian innings with a bang. They contributed 136 runs for the opening wicket. When it looked as if Australia would dominate this test as well, Anil Kumble struck consistently and produced a beautiful bowling spell in which he took 7 wickets for just 48 runs from his 17.3 overs. Australia's innings collapsed from 189-3 to 235 all out. In reply India scored 376 runs and took a commanding lead of 141 runs. Virender Sehwag scored a magnificent 155 runs, Mohammed Kaif on his comeback match scored 64 and was well supported by young Parthiv Patel (54). Shane Warne took 6 wickets for 125 runs. The top order of Australian innings again collapsed in the 2nd innings, but then Damien Martyn notched up a century (104) at the crucial time with the result being that the Australians had scored 369 runs in their second innings, setting a victory target of 229 runs for India to win. India had a good chance of winning the game, but rain on the final day prevented any chance of play, therefore, the match ended in a draw. Anil Kumble took 6 wickets for 133 runs and was awarded Man Of The Match.
The Third Test of the Series was played between 26-30 November at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground at Nagpur. Australia won the match and Series in four days. Australia posted 398 in their first innings, with Damien Martyn posting 114 runs with Michael Clarke making 91. In contrast, India played poorly in their first innings and none of their top order batsmen got going. The only batsman to make above 50 was Mohammed Kaif (55). Sachin Tendulkar, who returned from injury, made just 8 runs. India made 185 runs, 14 runs short of the follow-on. Australia rejected the follow-on and began their second innings, setting a target in excess of 500. But once again the Indians were bundled out for 200. None of the frontline batsman made a big score. Sehwag and Patel provided some hope but fell to the Australia's metronomic bowling. Australia won the third test by 342 runs. Martyn was awarded Man Of The Match. With this win, Australia won this test series after 35 years of trying for success in India, a feat which has been termed the final frontier by Steve Waugh.
The fourth and final test match was played between 3-7 November 2004 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Having already lost the series, India made changes in the team. Patel, Aakash Chopra, Ajit Agarkar and Yuvraj Singh were all dropped from the lineup. The first day of play was almost completely washed out by rain, with only 11 overs being bowled. India won the toss and elected to bat. The innings started on a bad note, losing 2 wickets on the first day itself. On the second day India was bowled out for their second-lowest score ever of 104 runs, with Rahul Dravid scoring the highest score in the innings of 31 runs. Jason Gillespie (4-29) was the main wicket taker for Australia. Australia's first innings also didn't last long, as they were bowled out on the same day for a score of 203 runs, with Martyn (55) top scoring. Murali Karthik (4-44) and Kumble (5-90) were the main wicket takers. 18 wickets fell in all on the second day of play. India made 205 runs in their second innings, with significant scores from V.V.S. Laxman (69) and Tendulkar (55). Michael Clarke (6-9) removed the tail order within 23 runs. Chasing 107 runs for victory, Australia lost wickets consistently throughout their second innings and were bowled out for 93 runs, giving India a victory by 13 runs. Harbhajan Singh (5-29) and Murali Kartik (3-32) took most of the wickets. Murali Kartik was named Man Of The Match. This test is one of the shortest test matches ever played, lasting for only 2 complete days. The pitch prepared for the match had later come in for a lot of criticism by Ricky Ponting.
Damien Martyn was named Man Of The Series.