The Indian team has been traveling to Australia since 1948. They have played 13 Test matches so far in the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Ground. Although the records are not very bright for Indians, the Test matches played at MCG between Australia and India have definitely amused the audience over all these years.
1977: First Test win in Australia
After winning the first two Test matches at Brisbane and Perth during the 1977 Australia tour of the Indian cricket team the hosts were set for their third consecutive win at Melbourne. Indians won the toss and chose to bat on the batting-friendly wicket. After the early dismissals of two openers when India were struggling with 0/2 on board, the middle order consisted of Mohinder Amarnath (72), Gundappa Vishwanath (59), Ashok Mankad (44), and Dilip Vengsarkar (37) stabilized the innings and scored 256 runs. The challenge was to restrict Australia and get a considerable lead. Chandrashekhar came to rescue and confused the Australians with his spin magic. He took 6 wickets for 52 runs to bundle Australia for 213 runs.
The visitors got a lead of 43 runs and added 343 runs in the 2nd innings, thanks to a magnificent century by Sunil Gavaskar (118). Australia came to bat with a target of 387 and failed miserably against the spin of Chandrashekhar once again. Chandrashekar became the first bowler in the history to record identical figures in two innings of the same Test match- 6 wickets for 52 runs. Australia were all out for 164 runs as India won the Test with a huge margin of 222 runs. It was, in fact, India’s first Test win on Australian soil.
1981: A Test full of moments
In the 1981 series between Australia and India, the Indian team were already under pressure after losing the first Test at Sydney in three days. They managed a draw in the second one at Adelaide but the third Test match at Melbourne was important for India to win to level the series. Batting first India could score 237 runs as Dennis Lillee and Len Pascoe took four and three wickets respectively. It was only Gundappa Viswanath who could show resistance and ended up with a brilliant 114. In reply, Australia scored 400 plus thanks to a century from Allan Border and important contributions from Greg Chappell (76) and Doug Walters (78). In the second Innings, Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan provided a great start and added 165 runs for the first wicket.
Then the match saw one of the most controversial moments in the history of India’s visits Down Under. Sunil Gavaskar was given out by the umpire off a Dennis Lillee in-cutter. But Gavaskar was not convinced. Eventually, a frustrated Gavaskar decided to walk out along with Chauhan. Thankfully Indian team officials took initiative and the innings was resumed. Indians ended with 324 runs and in response, Australia required just 143 runs for a win. However, Kapil Dev’s injury was a headache for the Indians initially but the leading pacer showed his mental strength and finished the innings singlehandedly by scalping 5 wickets for 28 runs as Australians were bowled out for just 83 and lost the test by 59 runs.
2003: When Sehwag missed a double
On a rare occasion, during the 2003-04 Boxing Day Test match, Indian team led by Sourav Ganguly already had a 1-0 lead in the series. They won the toss at MCG and Ganguly chose to bat. Along with a patient Akash Chopra, Virender Sehwag added 141 runs for the first wicket out of which Chopra scored 48. It was a wonderful batting exhibition from Sehwag who hit all around the ground and was scoring at a strike rate around 80. After Chopra’s dismissal, Sehwag and Rahul Dravid (49) added 137 runs. However, Indians soon lost Dravid followed by Sachin Tendulkar for a duck. Sehwag (195), as always was in his zone but his dismissal was a shock to the visitors.
India lost the last 7 wickets for 55 runs. Australia replied with a massive 558 which included a century from Matthew Hayden (136) and a double hundred from Ricky Ponting (257). It was Ponting’s second double century of the series after the Adelaide one. In the second innings, India could only score 286, based on Dravid (92), Sourav Ganguly (73), and Tendulkar (44). Williams finished with 4 wickets and with 95 to score to win the match it was quite a comfortable win for Australia. They lost only one wicket in the final innings as Hayden (53) and Ponting (39) completed the task.
2018: First Test series win in Australia
Once again, India came to play the Melbourne Test in 2018 under Virat Kohli’s captaincy with a lead earned in the Adelaide Test match followed by a defeat at Perth. Indians were looking in great shape in this tour and a win at Melbourne meant a first-ever Test series win for the visitors in Australia. Virat Kohli and co were definitely not in a mood to lose such an opportunity. Hanuma Virahi and Mayank Agarwal opened the batting for India but Vihari fell for just eight runs. Cheteshwar Pujara walked in a gave the stability that the situation required. Pujara (106) and Mayank Agarwal (76) added 83 runs for the second wicket followed by a fine 82 from the skipper, 34 from Ajinkya Rahane, 63 from Rohit Sharma, and 39 from Rishabh Pant.
The innings was declared on 443/7. Jasprit Bumrah, playing his first Test series in Australia picked up 6 wickets for 33 runs in 15.5 overs and ran through the Aussie line-up. Ravindra Jadeja took 2 while Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma scalped 1 each. Once Australia were bundled up for 151 runs, Indians added 106 more in the second innings. The final target for Australia was 399 runs. Bumrah added 3 more to his name as many as Jadeja while Sharma and Shami finished the innings with 2 each. India won the Test match and eventually the series.