If Mitchell Starc’s smile seemed to convey a sense of confident when he spoke on Tuesday, don’t blame him. He, along with the rest of the Australian team, have good reason. They were underdogs but decimated India in Pune by 333 runs. And while the rest of the cricketing world, including Adam Gilchrist, has warned them not to get carried away, they will be quietly confident going the second Test. The reason? The venue.
The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru may be the Indian Premier League home of Virat Kohli but it’s a venue Australia will be extremely comfortable at. Their record at the stadium is so good that cricket.com.au even quoted a prominent former Australian bowler as saying that Bengaluru was the “Lord’s of India”, in reference to Australia’s brilliant record at the spiritual home of the game (they have just lose twice in the last ten matches they have played there).
Australia have played five times in Bengaluru and have only lost once there. They’ve drawn twice and won the other two. Here’s a look at the matches they have played there:
1979 – Viswanath and Vengsarkar dominate in dull draw
Australia’s first appearance in the Garden City was largely uneventful in a rain-affected match. Batting first, they struggled against Shivlal Yadav, who snared 4/49, and were bowled out for 333 with captain Kim Hughes top scoring with 86.
India’s second innings was interrupted by rain but a solid, if slow partnership from Dilip Vengsarkar and Gundappa Viswanath ensured the match would peter out into a dull draw. India declared at 457/5 on the final day and Australia were wobbling at 77/3 but rain washed out the rest of the final day to force a draw.
Brief scores:
Australia 333 all out (Kim Hughes 86, Andrew Hilditch 62; Shivlal Yadav 4/49, Karsan Ghavri 2/68) and 77/3 (Graeme Wood 30; Shivlal Yadav 3/32) drew with India 457/5 declared (Gundappa Viswanath 161, Dilip Vengsarkar 112; Bruce Yardley 4/107, Jim Higgs 1/95)
1998 – Michael Kasprowicz’s finest hour?
Almost two decades later, Australia arrived back in the city, smarting at having already lost the series due to some Sachin Tendulkar magic in the first Test, followed up by Mohammad Azharuddin at his peerless best in the second. Things seemed to be following a familiar script though, Sachin Tendulkar, in perhaps the best form of his life, scored 177 as India were bowled out for 424.
Anil Kumble took 6/98, India took the lead but just. Michael Slater was aggressive from the beginning, hitting 91 off 117 balls and was dismissed when Australia’s score was 143. Mark Waugh eked out a gritty hundred and Shane Warne provided some lower-order resistance as Australia finished on 400, just 24 runs short of India.
Shane Warne took out India’s two openers, VVS Laxman and Navjot Sidhu, and then it was the Michael Kasprowicz show. In a searing spell of reverse swing, the right-arm pacer took out five wickets as India collapsed to 169 all out. Chasing 194 to win, captain Mark Taylor ensured there would be no hiccups, remaining not out with 102 as Australia salvaged some pride in Bengaluru.
Brief scores:
India 424 all out (Sachin Tendulkar 177, Navjot Sidhu 74; Adam Dale 3/71, Shane Warne 3/106) and 169 all out (Navjot Sidhu 44, Sachin Tendulkar 31; Michael Kasprowicz 5/28, Gavin Robertson 3/28) lost to Australia 400 all out (Mark Waugh 153 not out, Michael Slater 91; Anil Kumble 6/98, Harbhajan Singh 2/112) and 195/2 (Mark Taylor 102 not out, Michael Slater 42; Sachin Tendulkar 1/41, Anil Kumble 1/62) by eight wickets
2004 – The beginning of the Final Frontier conquest
It was 2004 and Adam Gilchrist had led Australia back to India to have one more shot at the Final Frontier. At 149/4, they seemed lost. But then a young debutant by the name of Michael Clarke came out and took over. In a series-changing partnership of 167, Clarke and Gilchrist transferred the pressure back. Clarke scored a brilliant 151 in on debut, Gilchrist 104 and Australia scored 474. Buoyed by the big score, Australia’s pace attack of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, with Shane Warne playing a supporting role, bowled India out for 246.
Harbhajan Singh took 6/78 as Australia were bowled out for only 228 in their second dig, but it was enough. Facing a target of 457, India never got going, slipping to 19/4. Rahul Dravid scored 60 and Irfan Pathan 55 but India were bowled out for 239 giving Australia a 1-0 lead in the series.
Brief scores:
Australia 474 all out (Michael Clarke 151, Adam Gilchrist 104; Harbhajan Singh 5/146, Anil Kumble 3/157) and 228 all out (Damien Martyn 45, Simon Katich 39; Harbhajan Singh 6/78, Anil Kumble 2/64) beat India 246 all out (Parthiv Patel 46, Sourav Ganguly 45; Glenn McGrath 4/55, Michael Kasprowicz 2/43) and India 239 all out (Rahul Dravid 60, Irfan Pathan 55; Jason Gillespie 3/33, Michael Kasprowic 2/23) by 217 runs
2008 – A similar script, but India hold on for a draw
Australia looked like they would follow a similar script in 2008. Again it was the first Test of the series, again it was in Bengaluru and again they batted first and put up a 400-plus score. It was 430 all out this time with Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting posting centuries. In response, India were again in danger of being bowled out for a 200-and-around score but two late fightbacks from Harbhajan Singh (54) and Zaheer Khan (57) ensured they would finish at 360.
Australia declared at 228/6 in their second innings on the last day and India slipped to an alarming 24/2 at lunch. Thankfully, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman averted another collapse as India held on to draw.
Brief scores:
Australia 430 all out (Michael Hussey 146, Ricky Ponting 123; Zaheer Khan 5/91, Ishant Sharma 4/77) and 228/6 declared (Shane Watson 41, Brad Haddin 35 not out; Ishant Sharma 3/40, Harbhajan Singh 2/76) drew with India 360 all out (Zaheer Khan 57 not out, Harbhajan Singh 54; Mitchell Johnson 4/70, Shane Watson 3/45) and 177/4 (Sachin Tendulkar 49, VVS Laxman 42 not out; Stuart Clark 1/12, Brett Lee 1/26)
2010 – Sachin magic finally gives India a win to savour
It was in 2010 that India finally managed to get a win over Australia in Bengaluru and it was all down to the genius of Sachin Tendulkar. Batting first, Australia put up a substantial score of 478, helped by a magnificent century from Marcus North.
Only five Indian batsmen got to double figures in India’s first innings, but two of them got triple figures. Sachin Tendulkar scored 214, Murali Vijay 139 and India got a vital first innings lead of 17 runs. When it was Australia’s turn to bat, India’s bowlers completed a fine job to bowl them out for just 223. Needing 207 to win, Cheteshwar Pujara, on debut, scored 72 to guide India through a tricky chase.
Brief scores:
Australia 478 all out (Marcus North 128, Ricky Ponting 77; Harbhajan Singh 4/148, Pragyan Ojha 3/120) and 223 all out (Ricky Ponting 72, Shane Watson 32; Zaheer Khan 3/41, Pragyan Ojha 3/57) lost to India 495 all out (Sachin Tendulkar 214, Murali Vijay 139; Mitchell Johnson 3/105, Peter George 2/48) and 207/3 (Cheteshwar Pujara 72, Sachin Tendulkar 53 not out; Shane Watson 1/20, Ben Hilfenhaus 1/27) by seven wickets