BGT: India’s 5 biggest wins by runs in Australia
India's record 295-run win in Perth, their biggest in Australia, ended the hosts' unbeaten streak at the stadium since 2018.
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Still from Australia vs. India, 1st Test, 4th day, Optus Stadium, November 25, 2024 (Image via Open Source/X)
India won the first Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) by a huge margin of 295 runs.
It was the country’s biggest win by runs in Australia. That it took place in the Perth Stadium, where Australia had never lost a Test since the ground’s opening match in 2018, was even more icing on the cake.
Today we look back at India’s five biggest wins in Australia by the margin of runs.
Perth 2024: India won by 295 runs
India were in dire straits heading into the first Test at Perth after a shock 0-3 whitewash at home against New Zealand.
Australia, on the other hand, had a settled if aging playing 11; the recently retired David Warner being the only notable absence from a core squad that had won every Test at the new Perth Stadium since its opening match in 2018.
Stand-in Indian skipper Jasprit Bumrah decided to bat first in challenging conditions and once India were 73-6 it looked like an all-too-familiar batting capitulation was on the cards. But keeper Rishabh Pant and debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy ensured India made it to triple-digits.
150 is not usually a good first-innings score in a Test but when you have a bowler like Bumrah in your side even a meagre total can be defended.
‘Boom-Boom’ Bumrah (5-30) produced a magical spell of fast bowling to reduce Australia to 67-7 at the end of Day 1; and the trio of him, Mohammad Siraj and debutant Harshit Rana, combined to curtail the hosts to 104 all out.
A 46-run lead provided some comfort to the visitors, but a poor second innings would have squandered the advantage. Luckily for India, opening batters Yashasvi Jaiswal (161) and KL Rahul (77) played with rare patience and determination to set a record opening partnership of 201 that put their team in a commanding position.
Virat Kohli’s 30th Test ton (100 n.o.) and late hitting by Nitish Reddy helped set a near-impossible total of 534 for Australia to chase.
India kept chipping away at the wickets to bowl out the Aussies for 238 in the second innings and register a famous win. Bumrah, with his inspiring leadership and match-figures of 8/72, was player-of-the-match.
Melbourne 1977: India won by 222 runs
India’s biggest win in Australia prior to Perth 2024 was also the nation’s first win Down Under.
It was set in 1977; at the height of the worldwide disco craze and of World Series Cricket. The latter, a rebel high-paying tournament started by Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, attracted some of the best players of the world, including Australia’s Chappell brothers and pacer Dennis Lillee.
The WSC was outside the ICC structure, which meant that a player opting to play for Packer would not be allowed to play for the official Australian team. Consequently, the team Australia fielded for India’s 1977-78 Tour lacked some of their biggest names and had to be captained by the retired Bob Simpson who had last played a Test in 1967.
India too faced their own challenges. Absence of a genuine fast-bowler in the side was one of the factors in the team losing narrowly in the first two Tests of the series in Brisbane and Perth. The third Test in Melbourne was a do-or-die time for the visitors in the five-match series.
Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi decided to bat first in Melbourne. India, after a poor start, made a respectable score of 256 thanks to their middle-order led by Mohinder Amarnath (72) and GR Vishwanath (59).
In reply, the Aussies were bowled out for 213 in the face of the leg-spinning wizardry of Bhagwath Chandrasekhar (6 for 52).
Sunil Gavaskar made amends for his first-innings failure to score 118 in the second innings. It was his third century of the Tour. India were finally dismissed for 343 to set Australia a target of 387.
The hosts could not replicate their successful 300+ run chase from the second Test in Perth and were bundled out for just 164 in Melbourne. BS Chandrasekhar (6-42) was the hero yet again with skipper Bedi taking the remaining 4 wickets with his left-arm spin.
It was a historic moment for Indian cricket. India won the next Test but narrowly lost the fifth and final Test to lose a closely-fought series 2-3.
Melbourne 2018: India won by 137 runs
Melbourne 2018 had echoes of 1977. Australia were fielding a depleted batting line-up with Steve Smith and David Warner facing bans following ‘sandpaper-gate’ while India were looking to win a Test series in Australia for the first time ever.
The 2018-19 series was tied 1-1 leading into the third Test in Melbourne. If India had to win in Australia, it was now or never.
India, electing to bat first, posted 443/7 declared. Cheteshwar Pujara (106), the star of the visitors’ win in Adelaide earlier in the series, put up another masterclass in Test match batting, ably assisted by captain Virat Kohli, debutant Mayank Agrawal and Rohit Sharma.
Next it was Jasprit Bumrah’s turn to shine. Bumrah, on his first Australia tour, took 6 for 33 to dismiss the hosts for a paltry 151. The spell included a memorable ‘ball-of-the-century-contender’; a slow yorker to dismiss Shaun Marsh at the stroke of lunch on Day 3.
But the drama of the third day was not yet over. India, despite leading by 292 runs, were put into a spot of bother by Pat Cummins and his leg-side trap in their second innings. India finally finished with 106/8 declared, giving Australia a target of 399 runs.
The Indian bowlers, led by Bumrah, continued chipping away at the wickets on Day 4. It was only Pat Cummins’ (63) dogged resistance that got the hosts to 258/8 by the end of the day and prevented an Indian victory inside four days.
With rain on the horizon, India needed to wrap things up quickly on Day 5. They duly did so within 27 balls, bowling out the hosts for 261. India now led the series 2-1 and Bumrah was the player-of-the-match.
India went on to win the series after the next and final Test was a rain-affected draw.
Perth 2008: India won by 72 runs
Few Test matches in history have been as controversy-charged as Sydney 2008.
Shockingly poor umpiring amidst a close contest (the Sydney match would be one of the catalysts for the introduction of DRS in cricket) and the ‘monkey-gate’ scandal involving Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh almost derailed the 2007-08 Tour and created a diplomatic incident between the two countries.
India were trailing 0-2 heading into the third Test at Perth. They had never won a match in the pace-friendly WACA Ground and were carrying emotional baggage from the narrow loss at Sydney. Australia, on the other hand, had won 16 Tests in a row and were looking to add a record 17th win at a venue that suited their strengths.
Indian captain Anil Kumble won the toss for the first time in the series and elected to bat first. India, led by Rahul Dravid’s 93 and Sachin Tendulkar’s 71, posted a strong 330 against an all-pace Aussie attack.
The hosts could make just 212 in reply; RP Singh led with 4/68, rookie Ishant Sharma troubled Australian captain Ricky Ponting with a memorable spell and Kumble took the 600th wicket of his career.
In the second innings India posted 294. VVS Laxman’s 79 while batting with the tail was the most important contribution in the innings along with makeshift No.3 Irfan Pathan’s 46.
India now had a great chance to win the Test. Australia did try their best to chase down 413 with almost every batsman, including tail-ender Mitchell Johnson, contributing. But India were even more determined to win with every bowler being among the wickets.
Australia were eventually bowled out for 340. Irfan Pathan, with his strong all-round show, was man-of-the-match.
The next Test was drawn and though India lost the series 1-2, it proved to be a landmark tour in the nation’s overseas touring history.
Melbourne 1981: India won by 59 runs
India-Australia Tests are rarely devoid of drama. During India’s second innings of the third and final Test of their 1981 Tour to Australia, Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar almost decided to forfeit the match when he felt he had wrongly been given out LBW. He was ultimately dissuaded from doing so by the Indian team manager, SK Durrani. Which was for the best because the Melbourne Cricket Ground would have otherwise missed out on a spectacular contest.
India, put in to bat first by Australia skipper Greg Chappell, made it to 237 only because of an incredible 114 scored by Gundappa Vishwanath in difficult circumstances. Australia led by Allan Border’s 124 scored 419 in their first innings.
In reply, India’s opening pair of Gavaskar (70) and Chetan Chauhan (85) put up 165 for first wicket and nearly wiped out Australia’s 182-run lead. This was when the controversial incident took place. India were restricted to 324 thanks to a four-fer by Dennis Lillee.
Australia, who were leading the series 1-0, would have been favored to chase down the 143-run target. But India’s new pace sensation Kapil Dev had other plans. Kapil’s 5 for 28 along with strong performances by Karsan Ghavri and Dilip Doshi and despite the absence of the injured Shivlal Yadav skittled out Australia for just 83 runs.
India tied the 1981 series 1-1 and GR Vishwanath was man-of-the-match. After this win India would not win a Test in Australia again till 2003.
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