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A brief history
Australia v India
Jamie Alter
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Don Bradman's 185 at Brisbane set the tone for Australia's clean sweep in 1947-48
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1947-48 in Australia
India crumbled to an innings-and-226-run defeat at Brisbane thanks to Ernie Toshack's match haul of 11 for 31. Don Bradman's 185 helped Australia to 382, but India managed just 58 and 98. The second Test at Sydney was drawn, but India bowled better to get Australia out for 107. At Melbourne, Bradman hit centuries in each innings and Ian Johnson took eight wickets as the hosts won by 223 runs. Vinoo Mankad's century was the only saving grace. Come Adelaide, Bradman scored 201 out of 674 and India were bowled out for 381 and 277 (Ray Lindwall 7 for 38) to give Australia victory by an innings-and-16 runs. Australia wrapped up the final Test at Melbourne by an innings-and-177 runs, Neil Harvey scoring 153. India made 331 in the first innings, but capitulated for 67 in the second.
Australia 4 India 0
1956-57 in India
Australia's first tour to India was a success, coming off the back of a nine-wicket loss to Pakistan in a one-off Test. At Chennai, Richie Benaud took 7 for 72 as India were bowled out for 161. Australia made 319, a lead of 158, and Lindwall claimed 7 for 43 to wrap up victory by an innings and-five-runs. The two sides moved to Bombay for the second Test, where Lindwall took over as Australian captain with Ian Johnston unavailable. Ram Ramchand's 109 set up an Indian total of 251 but Jim Burke (161) and Harvey (140) helped Australia to 523 for 7 before India dug out a draw, reaching 250 for 5 in 137 overs. Australia were dismissed for 177 in the first innings at Eden Gardens, Ghulam Ahmed taking 7 for 49, but Benaud claimed 6 for 52 to get India for 136. Harvey top-scored with 69 as Australia made 189 for 9 and set India 213 to level the series, but Benaud (5 for 53) and Burke (4 for 37) spun the tourists to a 94-run victory. Benaud finished the series with 23 wickets.
Australia 2 India 0
1959-60 in India
Australia, fresh from a 2-0 victory in the three-Test series in Pakistan, won the first Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi by an innings and 127 runs. India were bowled out for 135 on the first day and Australia made 468, Harvey's excellent 114 leading the way. Benaud was in the wickets again, taking 5 for 76 to make it eight in the match, and Lindsay Kline had 4 for 42 to get India for 206. Pankay Roy fell for 99. Offspinner Jasubhai Patel was recalled for the second Test at Kanpur and took 9 for 69 and 5 for 55 to bowl India to a 119-run win, despite Allan Davidson's match haul of 12 for 124. There were hundreds for Nari Contractor, Norm O'Neill and Harvey in a draw at Mumbai, but Australia came back at Madras (now Chennai) to take a 2-1 lead. Batting first, they posted 342 thanks to Les Favell's 101 and Benaud finished with eight wickets in an innings and 55-run victory. The final Test at Kolkata was drawn.
Australia 2 India 1
1964-65 in India
A Bob Simpson-led Australia - Benaud, Harvey, Lindwall and Davidson were all gone - clinched victory in the first Test thanks to Garth McKenzie's 10 for 91. Bapu Nadkarni bowled exceptionally for his 11 for 122 but couldn't prevent a 139-run defeat. India leveled the series in a thriller at Mumbai. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar captured eight wickets, Pataudi hit classy half-centuries in each innings, and Chandu Borde saw India home to a two-wicket win with an unbeaten 30. Inclement weather ruined the final Test at Kolkata - no weather was possible on the fourth and fifth days - and the series was tied 1-1.
Australia 1 India 1
1967-68 in Australia
Australia were rebuilding when India toured Australia, but still won the series 4-0. India's selection was marred with controversy as names such as Salim Durrani, ML Jaisimha, S Venkataraghavan, Hanumant Singh and Buddhi Kunderan omitted. To top it off, captain Pataudi was injured on the eve of the first Test and did not return until the second and Chandrasekhar was sent home with injury after that same match. India lost the first Test at Brisbane by 146 runs, though there was an encouraging debut from Abid Ali (6 for 55). Graham McKenzie's 7 for 66 got India for 173 and Australia replied with 529, Bill Lawry, Ian Chappell and Simpson all getting hundreds. Trailing by 356, India could only manage 352 with Ajit Wadekar (99) and Pataudi (85) in the runs. Jaisimha, flown in as Chandrasekhar's replacement for the Brisbane Test, scored 74 and 101 and Erapalli Prasanna had six wickets in the second innings but it didn't stop Australia from winning by 39 runs. Australia completed the sweep at Sydney with a 144-run victory.
Australia 4 India 0
1969-70 in India
Australia faced an India attack led by spinners Bishan Singh Bedi, Prasanna and Venkataraghavan, all at their peak, but nevertheless won rather easily. The opener at Mumbai was a facile eight-wicket win after India's second-innings collapse left Australia just 64 to get. Gundappa Viswanath made his debut in the second Test, following up a first-innings duck with a laboured 137 as the game petered out into a high-scoring draw. India leveled the series 1-1 at Delhi with a brilliant seven-wicket victory after trailing by 73. Bedi and Prasanna each took nine wickets and Ajit Wadekar (91) and Viswanath (44) put on 120 to clinch the deal. At Kolkata Australia replaced legspinner John Gleeson with Eric Freeman, who took 4 for 54 in India's second innings, and bounced back with a ten-wicket win. In the final Test at Chennai Doug Walters' 102 helped Australia to 258 despite four wickets apiece from Prasanna and Vengataraghavan and Ashley Mallett picked up ten wickets in a 77-run victory.
Australia 3 India 1
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Sunil Gavaskar hit three hundreds Down Under in 1977-78 but Australia won 3-2
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1977-78 in Australia
A fighting hundred from Sunil Gavaskar could not prevent a 16-run loss at Brisbane, and Australia went up 2-0 at Perth thanks to Simpson's 176. Bedi took ten, Mohinder Amarnath had scores of 90 and 100, and Gavaskar hit 127 but nightwatchan Tony Mann's invaluable second-innings hundred took Australia to victory. Gavaskar his a third century and Chandrasekhar ripped through Australia in the third Test at Melbourne, capturing 6 for 52 in both innings, as India won by 222 runs. At Sydney India levelled the series by an innings. No hundred from Gavaskar, but decent contributions got the tourists to 396 after bowling Australia out for just 131, and Chandrasekhar and Prasanna bowled India to an innings and two-run win. Australia came back hard at Adelaide, centuries from Simpson and Graham Yallop helping them to 505 in their first innings, and they duly completed a 47-run victory.
Australia 3 India 2
1979-80 in India
This was Australia' first tour of India in ten years, six months after the dispute with Kerry Packer's World Series had been settled. Allan Border and Kim Hughes hit centuries, debutant Dilip Doshi had six for 103 and Jim Higgs 7 for 143 in India's first innings 425 as the first Test was drawn at Chennai. Shivlal Yadav, on debut at Bangalore, picked up 4 for 49 in Australia's 333 before Dilip Vengsarkar (100) and Viswanath (167 not out) added a record 259 for the fourth wicket to help India to 457 for 5 declared. The match ended in draw as well. India took a 1-0 lead at Kanpur with a 153-run win, built by half-centuries from Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, and Chetan Chauhan and excellent bowling from Kapil Dev (6 for 108) and Yadav (6 for 100). Australia's Geoff Dymock bowled superbly, taking 12 for 166, but could not force a win. In the fourth Test at Delhi hundreds from Gavaskar, Visawanath and Yashpal Sharma kept Australia in the field for two days as India made 510 for 7. Kapil then took 5 for 82 as Australia were forced to follow on, but the match ended in a draw when they were bowled out for 413. Another high-scoring draw at Kolkata ensured India went into the final Test at Bombay in a position from which they could not lose the series. Hundreds from Gavaskar and Syed Kirmani allowed India to declare on 458 for 8 before Doshi and Yadav bowled Australia out for 160 in their first innings. Kapil then took his series tally to 28 with 4 for 39 as India won by an innings and 100 runs.
India 2 Australia 0
1980-81 in Australia
Dennis Lillee, Len Pascoe and Jim Higgs grabbed wickets and Greg Chappell made batting look like fun with 204 as Australia took the opener at Sydney by an innings and four runs. The second Test at Adelaide was a draw, but a keen tussle at Melbourne went India's way. Viswanath's 114 carried India to 237, Border replied with 124 out of a total of 419. Gavaskar and Chauhan put on 165 for the first wicket when Lillee got Gavaskar lbw. Gavaskar felt he had bat on ball and protested and led Chauhan off the field, ready to concede the innings. He later apologised, but the controversial and distasteful event overshadow Kapil's heroic display with the ball, his 5 for 28 rolling Australia over for just 83 in a 59-run victory.
India 1 Australia 1
1985-86 in Australia
David Boon, Greg Ritchie and Gavaskar hit hundreds and Kapil took eight wickets in Australia's second innings in a draw at Adelaide. India were robbed of a win at Melbourne when rain interrupted their chase of 100 at 59 for 2. Having made 445 in the first innings, India bowled Australia out for 308, a total that was entirely owed to Border's 163. The third Test at Sydney was a high-scoring draw in which India made 600 for 4 with a maiden hundred from Kris Srikkanth backed by Gavaskar's 172 and Amarnath's 138. Australia lost their last five wickets for 27 runs and were bowled out for 396. Following on, they were 119 for 6 when the Test came to a close.
Australia 0 India 0
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Maninder Singh protests at being given out lbw to Greg Matthews as the Test ends in a tie
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1986-87 in India
History was made on September 22 at the Chepauk Stadium when only the second Test in history was tied. India needed four runs from the final over of the day but squandered their chance as Maninder Singh was given lbw to the last ball of the game with the scores level. It was a thrilling climax to a game in which Australia, led by Dean Jones' battling 503-minute 210 (he had to be treated in hospital for dehydration), Boon's 122 and Border's 106, racked up 574 for 6. Kapil hit 119 out of India's 397 and Australia, after declaring on 170 for 5, left the hosts 348 to get on day five. It was fascinating Test. By stunning contrast the Delhi Test was disrupted by rain with no play for the first three days. A flat track in the final Test at Bombay saw Geoff Marsh, Gavaskar, Vengsarkat and Ravi Shastri help themselves to hundreds in a dull draw.
Tests: Australia 0 India 0 Tie 1
ODIs: India 3 Australia 2
1991-92 in Australia
Excellent bowling from Craig McDermott and Bruce Reid consigned India to ten and eight wicket defeats at Brisbane and Melbourne, but come Sydney and a 19-year-old dazzled in a draw. Sachin Tendulkar, on a slow track, hit what many regard as his best Test innings, a brilliant 148. Shastri buckled down for his first double-century, inflicting some pain on a certain Shane Warne, on debut. The fourth Test at Adelaide was a tight contest, but Australia came back from a poor first-innings to make 451 and won by 83 runs. Tendulkar hit another sublime century at Perth but Mike Whitney's bowling outshone him and hundreds to Boon, Jones and Tom Moody resulted in a 300-run victory.
Australia 4 India 0
1996-97 in India
Australia's attempt to record a first Test success in India since 1969-70 were dashed as India won the one-off at Delhi by seven wickets. Mark Taylor's decision to bat came a cropper as Anil Kumble took 4 for 63 to bowl Australia out for 182 on day one. Nayan Mongia took advantage of depleted bowling attack (Shane Warne was absent) to hit his only Test hundred, adding 131 for the second wicket with Sourav Ganguly. After making 361 India restricted Australia to 234 (Kumble 5 for 67) and though Tendulkar, in his first Test as captain, made a duck India crossed the target of 58 in 13.2 overs.
India 1 Australia 0
1997-98 in India
Australia struggled without Glenn McGrath in what was billed as the Tendulkar v Warne series. Warne got his man for just 4 in the first innings of the opener at Chennai as India made 257 but Tendulkar replied in the second innings with a brilliant unbeaten 155 that included four sixes and 14 fours. Warne had figures of 1 for 122 from 30 overs when Mohammad Azharuddin declared at 418 for 4. Kumble and Venkatapathy Raju shared seven wickets as India won by 179 runs. Australia struggled to 233 in the first innings at Kolkata and Azharuddin hit an awe-inspiring unbeaten 163 to add to top-order fifties in India's total of 633 for 5. Five wickets from Kumble wrapped up an unassailable 2-0 lead. Tendulkar hit 177 in the final Test at Bangalore but Mark Waugh's 153 not out and Michael Kasprowicz's 5 for 28 earned Australia a consolation victory.
India 2 Australia 1
1999-00 in Australia
Australia inflicted cruel revenge on India when they toured Down Under, sweeping them 3-0. At Adelaide the hosts sealed a 285-run win thanks to hundreds from Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting and wickets from Warne and Damien Fleming. Brett Lee was handed a debut at Melbourne and grabbed 5 for 47 in India's first-innings 238, after Australia made 405. Tendulkar hit 116 and 52 but India wilted to a 180-run defeat. McGrath and Lee had India hopping in the final Test at Sydney, and in between there were hundreds to Justin Langer (223) and Ponting (141 not out) but even a dazzling maiden hundred from VVS Laxman could not prevent an innings and 141-run loss.
Australia 3 India 0
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VVS Laxman's epic 281 at Kolkata spurred India to a fantastic series win
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2000-01 in India
The Last Frontier proved unconquerable for a red-hot Australia in arguable the best series of all time. Australia wrapped up the first Test at Mumbai in three days, with Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist thumping counter-attacking hundreds, and at Kolkata India were staring at defeat after following-on. Enter Laxman, who scripted a flawless 281 in a 376-run stand with Rahul Dravid, whose 180 was perhaps the best supporting act in history. A zestful Harbhajan Singh, who took India's first hat-trick in the first innings, took 6 for 73 in the second to spin India to the most unbelievable of wins. India carried their new-found mojo into the decider at Chennai, Harbhajan taking 15 wickets and Tendulkar hitting 126 after Hayden's first double-century, in a pulsating two-wicket win. It was the series to beat and Australia's barren 31-year run on Indian soil continued.
Tests: India 2 Australia 1
ODIs: Australia 3, India 2
2003-04 in Australia
An unexpected and incandescent hundred from Sourav Ganguly in a rain-marred draw at Brisbane set the tone for the series - Steve Waugh's last - where India fought the world's best team to a standstill. In the second Test Australia were looking ominous at 400 for 5 but Kumble's five got them to 556 before Dravid's heroics toppled the hosts. His 233 and Laxman's 148 took India to 523 and Ajit Agarkar's 6 for 41 shot Australia out for 196, setting India 230 to win. True to form, Australia fought hard but Dravid's unbeaten 72 sealed a fantastic win. India let a 1-0 lead slip in the Boxing Day Test, but Sehwag thrilled with a first-day 195. Ponting's second consecutive double-century powered Australia to 558 and an eventual eight-wicket win. The final Test at Sydney, Waugh's home farewell, saw India put up their highest score, 705 for 7, thanks to Tendulkar's unbeaten 241 and Laxman's classy 178. Langer and Simon Katich hit hundreds, Kumble took eight and India did not enforce the follow-on. Set 443 to win Australia went into tea on the last day four wickets down, 238 behind, and with 35 overs left. Kumble was ripping it and India seemed like finishing it off, but Waugh (80) added 142 with Katich (77 not-out) as Australia salvaged a draw. There was more than a whiff of nostalgia as Waugh stepped off the cricket field for the last time. India, led by Dravid, Laxman and the untiring Kumble, emerged with their heads high.
Australia 1 India 1
2004-05 in India
Australia won the first Test at Bangalore by 217 runs thanks to debutant Michael Clarke's 151 and Gilchrist's murderous 104 and some tight bowling. Harbhajan excelled with 11 wickets in the match but India could not force a win. Rain scuppered a classic as the teams moved to Chennai. Kumble took 7 for 48 and Virender Sehwag blazed 155 out of India's first-innings 376. Australia suffered in the heat, dropping catches as McGrath cut a pale shadow of himself, but a superb second-innings hundred from Damien Martyn gave the bowlers something to go for. The match was delicately poised as India, needing 229 to win, finished the fourth day on 19 for 1 but heavy overnight rain deprived the Test of a result, which it deserved. Australia conquered that frontier with a big win at Nagpur that was highlighted by Martyn and Clarke. The final Test, on a minefield of a pitch at the Wankhede Stadium, went India's way as Australia were bowled out for 93 in a low-scoring thriller. Tendulkar and Laxman scripted fighting half-centuries before Clarke nipped out six wickets, but Harbhajan and Murali Kartik pulled off a scarcely credible 13-run victory.
Australia 2 India 1
Jamie Alter is an editorial assistant on Cricinfo
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