Australia's record in last 26 Tests at home makes India's series wins even more monumental

Australia are amongst the most dangerous sides in cricket when it comes to playing under home conditions. They have displayed their dominance at home for several years as their record has been unmatchable. The Kangaroos added another feather to it after they defeated England by an inning and 14 runs in the 3rd Australia vs England Ashes Test at Melbourne to win the series and retain the urn. Australia’s extraordinary record at home makes India’s historic triumph one year back even more monumental. In the last 26 matches in their own conditions, the Kangaroos have managed to win 19 matches while losing four and drawing the other three games. In this period, Australia played a total of eight series including the ongoing Ashes, and have come out on top in six of them.

This record-setting run of Australia shows how they are impenetrable at their home turf. Taking a closer look at this record, we can see that all of their four defeats and two of the three draws have come against the Indian cricket team.

India grabbed their first-ever series win down under in the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar Trophy under the leadership of Virat Kohli when they emerged victorious with a 2-1 victory. Several critics claimed that the series win was against a weak Australian side who were missing the services of Steve Smith and David Warner owing to the sandpaper gate incident.

However, the Indian team defied all the odds once again when they toured Australia in 2020-21. All eyes were on skipper Kohli who was available only for the first Test at Adelaide which as claimed by experts was India’s only chance to win the series. Unfortunately, an unthinkable unfolded for the visitors as they were bundled out for 36 in the second innings and went on to lose the match by eight wickets.

However, India showed high character and belief in the following games starting with the second Test at Melbourne where stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane led his side to a commanding win with a fine century. Later came the SCG challenge, where India were missing three pacers from their quartet but still managed to secure a draw courtesy of brilliant knocks from Rishab Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara followed by Vihari and Ashwin’s blockathon despite being injured. The series which was levelled at 1-1 moved to Gabba where they were undefeated in 32 years. India were without the majority of their players and had to include the net bowlers in the playing XI but still managed to secure Australia’s fortress and series 2-1 thanks to major contributions from Siraj, Pant, and Gill.

This series win of India down under is regarded as the greatest ever by any team in Australia as it came despite the unavailabilities of multiple senior players and also against a full-fledged Australian side. The series win displayed how India are the only side to defeat Australia at their home and also demonstrated India’s belief to win overseas making them the best visiting side in recent years.

IND vs SA: India eye for their maiden series win in South Africa

Virat Kohli's men are now aiming to secure their first-ever series win in South Africa. South Africa is the only nation where the Indian team are yet to win a Test series and the ongoing IND vs SA 2021-22 Test series could be the perfect opportunity for them to create history.

The first Test has already commenced in Centurion with the Indian team looking in commanding position. India posted 327 runs on the board courtesy of a ton from KL Rahul and handy contributions from Mayank and Rahane. The bowlers have also started remarkably reducing the Proteas to 182-8 at the time of writing.

Image: Twitter/ BCCI