Aus vs India 2020: Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting hold the most records as we look at the full list of unique test records between both teams in Australia.
After an equinoctial result of the ODI and T20I series with Australia and India winning 2-1 respectively, we are now preparing for the most exciting and challenging series for the India team on the current India tour of Australia, namely the Test series.
Having been on the road for over 70 years, it was only in 2018 that Team India won their first Test series (2-1) against Australia on Australian soil. While it is definitely an achievement worth remembering, we must also consider the fact that Australia did not have their best hitters, David Warner and Steve Smith.
Historically, India has won only 7 events in Australia, of which 2 came in the last series. While Australia won 29 of them and tied 12 of them. With David Warner and Steve Smith back in the mix, and Kohli unavailable in the second round, it will be the toughest issue for the Indian team.
However, before we talk about the first test match, let’s look at all the records: batting, bowling and equipment in various categories for the test matches played between India vs Australia in Australia.
Team record in testing: Aus vs India in Australia
Total tests played: 48
India: 7 wins || Australia: 29 Wins || To draw: 12
# 1: Highest Team Total
The team’s highest total belongs to India when they scored a whopping 705/7 in Sydney in the 2003-04 series. It was the innings in which Sachin Tendulkar reached his highest score in the tests, 241 races. This entry is followed by 674 for Australia in Adelaide in 1948. This is followed by 659/4 for Australia in Sydney in 2012.
# 2: most successful career pursuit
Australia holds the highest record for successful racing chases when it chased a mammoth score of 342 at Perth in 1977. The second best racing chase then plunges to 233, where India chased the target losing 6 wickets at Adelaide in 2003. The third best The race-chase is surprisingly just 130/6 for Australia in 2014. This goes to show, winning the toss and hitting first is the first thing a Captain should do in Australia.
# 3: Lowest Team Total
Two of the three lowest teams belong to the India team. For that, we have to go to the year of India’s independence, 1947, when India was wiped out for a meager 58 races in Brisbane. The following year saw another low overall score by Team India when they were eliminated by 67 races in Melbourne. 33 years later, Australia posted their lowest total against India when they were eliminated by 83 runs in Melbourne.
Test batting records in Australia:
# 1: most careers
Retired legends Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar are almost head to head when it comes to the majority of the races between the two teams at Australian Testing. While Ponting is the leader with 1893 races, Sachin is not far behind with 1809 races. Following them is Team India’s current skipper Virat Kohli with 1274 races.
# 2: Most races in a series:
Steve Smith, who scored 769 fabulous runs in the 2014-15 series is first on the list. They are followed by Sir Don Bradman with 715 runs, who scored in 1947 and Ricky Ponting with 706 runs, who scored in the 2003-04 series. Virat Kohli, who scored 692 runs in 2014, has the best performance of an Indian.
# 3: batting average (minimum 500 runs)
Sir Don Bradman with a total of 715 runs has a mind-blowing average of 178.8 and is first on the list. He is followed by today’s legend Steve Smith with 769 runs and 128.2 average. Third on the list is another Australian, Ricky Ponting with an average of 86. Cheteshwar Pujara has the highest average among Indians with 55.3.
# 4: higher individual score
Michael Clarke with his epic 329 hit in Sydney in the 2012-13 series has the highest individual score between the two teams in Australia. He is followed by his teammate, Ricky Ponting, of 257 points in Melbourne in the 2003-04 series. The series also saw Sachin Tendulkar score a magnificent 241 in Sydney. However, Ponting’s hit of 242 in Adelaide in the same 2003-04 series is third on the list.
# 5: four and six
Sachin Tendulkar this time leads the chart of fours with 209 fours, followed by Ricky Ponting with 197 fours and VVS Laxman with 165 fours. When it comes to sixes, it’s a tie between Keith Miller, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma, who have each achieved 8 sixes. However, Keith used only 5 innings to hit those, while Sehwag and Rohit used 20 and 10 innings respectively.
# 6: 100 and 50
Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar once again at the top of the list with 7 centuries and 6 centuries respectively. Sachin’s disciple, Virat Kohli equates 6 centuries to his name. When it comes to fifty years, Ponting and Sachin have reached seven fifty each. They are followed by Rahul Dravid and Chris Rogers with 6 years and fifties.
Bowling records in Australian testing:
# 1: most windows
Legendary Kapil Dev and trendy GOAT spin Nathan Lyon have taken the maximum number of wickets with 51 each to their name. Interestingly, both have needed exactly 11 matches / 21 innings to accomplish this feat. They are followed by Anil Kumble with 49 windows. Among current Indian bowlers, Mohammed Shami with 31 wickets is 7th on the list.
# 2: Most terrains in a series:
Interestingly, two of the first three plots of a series belong to spinners. Bishan Singh Bedi leads the list with 31 wickets in the 1977-78 series. Craig Dermott follows again with 31 wickets, which came in the 1991-92 series. These two are followed by BS Chandrashekhar and Wayne Clark with 28 wickets each, both in the 1977-78 series.
# 3: Average bowling and strike rate (minimum 20 wickets)
Jasprit Bumrah, who has taken 21 wickets, has a fabulous average of 17. Following him is Bin Hilfenhaus with an average of 17.2 and Bruce Reid with an average of 20. When it comes to Strike Rate bowling, Peter Siddle with 20 wickets has an excellent hit rate of 36.4. It is followed by Bin Hilfenhaus with an SR of 37.3 and Sir Dennis Lillee with an SR of 42.4.
# 4: best spell (tickets and match)
Kapil Dev with his impressive spell of 8-106 in 1985 is the first on the list of best spells in an entry in Australia. This is followed by Anil Kumble’s 8-141 in Sydney in 2004. Best of all, however, is Mike Whitney’s 7-27 winning spell at WACA in 1992.
When it comes to the best bowling performance in a match, only Anil Kumble finds a spot in third position with a spell of 12-286. First place belongs to BS Chandrashekar, who had made two 6-wicket sets to record a match performance of 12/104. He is followed by Bruce Reid with a 12-126 spell, who had also taken two 6-wicket casts.
# 5: Five-porthole throws:
The largest number of 5-wicket casts belongs to Kapil Dev, who has made five 5-wicket casts. They are followed by Anil Kumble and Nathan Lyon with four sets of 5 wickets each. Nathan Lyon has a golden opportunity to pass Kapil Dev for the lead 5 wicket set title.
Therefore, these have been the best records between the Indian and Australian tests in Australia.
Thank you for reading! What are your favorite records from the India vs Australia test? Please let us know in the comments.
ALSO READ: India vs Australia 2020: T20I Series Player Performance Report
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Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics.
For him, cricket is like ‘Football is for Lionel Messi’, ‘Singing is for Lata Mangeshkar’, ‘Dancing is for Michael Jackson’ and ‘Acting is for Clint Eastwood’.
In addition to his effervescent love of cricket, Adesh is an MBA by degree.