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Currently, the most talked about thing in the world of cricket is Border Gavaskar Trophy i.e. BGT. This series of 5 matches is starting from 22nd November in Perth, Australia. Australia and number 2 India are face to face against each other.
Although both the teams have been playing each other in Test cricket since 1947, but in 1996 this match got the name of Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Know further in the story what was the reason for changing the name of this series, what has been the trend of BGT till now and what story the performance of both the teams tells so far…
Why was the name kept only after Border-Gavaskar?
India and Australia could have played the series in the name of Sachin-Warne, Ponting-Ganguly or Kapil-Waugh. But when the name of the series was changed in 1996, the names of Allan Border from Australia and Sunil Gavaskar from India were found to be the most powerful. Out of about 2 thousand players who had played Test till that time, both of them were the batsmen who had more than 10 thousand Test runs in their name. For this reason the India-Australia Test series was named Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The Border–Gavaskar Trophy is named after Australia’s Allan Border (left) and India’s Sunil Gavaskar (right).
Were there no Tests between India and Australia before 1996?
Absolutely, both the teams have been playing Tests against each other since 1947. After getting independence from the British, the first foreign tour of the Indian team was to Australia. In 1996, the 50th year of cricket between the two teams was starting, to make it memorable, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) decided to name the series as BGT.
Who won the first BGT?
BGT started in 1996. For the first time, only one test match under this trophy was held in Delhi. India won by 7 wickets under the captaincy of Sachin Tendulkar. India’s wicketkeeper batsman Nayan Mongia, who scored 152 runs, was the player of the match. Since then, 16 BGTs have been played between the two teams. 10 were won by India and 5 were won by Australia. In 2003–04, a series was also drawn 1–1.
9 BGTs were played in India, in which India won 8 times. Australia won once. BGT was organized in Australia 7 times. Australia won 4 times in this. Once India won and once the series was drawn. For Australia, winning the BGT has become a matter of self-respect, because the team has not been able to win the series even once since 2014. Whereas India has won 4 consecutive series.
Both won 6-6 tests in each other’s home.
So far 56 Tests have been played between India and Australia in BGT. There were 29 Tests held in India, the Indian team won 18 and Australia won 6. 5 tests were drawn. Of the 27 Tests played in Australia, the home team won 14 and India won only 6. 7 tests were drawn.
India stopped Australia’s victory chariot twice
India won the first BGT in 1996. For the second time also BGT was organized in India in 1998. This time Team India won 2-1. After two consecutive series defeats, the third BGT was held in Australia in 1999–00. This time the Kangaroos made a clean sweep of the Indian team 3-0.
Then, under the captaincy of Steve Waugh, the Australian team became the strongest team in the world. Australia won 15 consecutive tests against different teams. In 2001, Steve Waugh’s team came to India to participate in the fourth BGT. Australia won the first test in Mumbai. This was the Kangaroos’ 16th consecutive win in Test cricket. It was believed that Steve Waugh’s team would easily win the series this time too. But, under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, the Indian team counterattacked and won the next two matches and won the series.
After this, once again in 2007-08, Australia won 16 consecutive Test matches under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting. This time too, India broke his streak of consecutive wins.
Started breaking pride by entering Australia
In 2018, Team India went one step further. Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, the team defeated Australia for the first Test series in cricket history at the same home. This was the first Test series win by any Asian team in Australia.
However, it was then said that Australia was weak, the team’s two big batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner were not part of the squad.
India defeated Australia 2-1 at home for the second consecutive time in 2021. This time the Australian team was at full strength and the Indian team was playing with young players and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane. India won the last match of the series at the Gabba Stadium in Brisbane, where Australia had not lost since 1988.
If a champion team like Australia loses two consecutive Test series at home, then it is bound to get hyped. The posters of Kohli and Team India, which are continuously published in Australian newspapers, are also telling the same thing.
Australian newspaper ‘The West Australian’ placed Kohli’s practice photo on its cover page. The newspaper’s headline was, ‘King’s return’.
Is BGT bigger than Ashes?
BGT is not as old as the Ashes series between Australia and England, but in the last few years it has become bigger and more fighting than the Ashes. The Ashes started in 1882, but BGT has won the title of the most challenging Test series in 29 years.
England has been able to defeat Australia in a Test series at home only once in the last 35 years. Whereas India has shattered Australia’s self-esteem by doing this twice in the last 6 years. Therefore, it is natural for BGT to be bigger than Ashes. Since 2000, South Africa is the only team which has won 3 consecutive Test series in Australia. India now has a chance to make this record in its name.
Top players and captains of BGT
Sachin is the only batsman to score 3000 runs
India’s Sachin Tendulkar has scored the highest score of 3262 runs in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. He is the only player to score more than 3000 runs in BGT. Ricky Ponting from Australia is on top with 2555 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara has the highest number of 2033 runs among active players. Sachin has scored the maximum number of 9 centuries in BGT, followed by Virat Kohli, Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Steve Smith who have 8 centuries each.
Kohli can break Sachin’s record in Australia
Even in Australia, Sachin is the top Indian scorer of BGT. He has 1809 runs in his name in 38 innings with the help of 6 centuries. Now Kohli can leave Sachin behind, for this he will have to score 458 runs in 5 tests. After scoring 2 centuries, he will score more centuries than Sachin in BGT.
This time the battle between the top-2 bowlers of BGT
Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has taken the most wickets in BGT with 116 wickets. India’s Ravichandran Ashwin is very close to him with 114 wickets. However, Ashwin has played 4 tests less than Lion. Both the players will once again face each other in BGT.
Ashwin can overtake Kapil in Australia
The highest wicket taker in Australia is Indian Kapil Dev, who has 51 wickets in 11 Tests. Ashwin is at third place with 39 wickets. He can reach the top by taking 13 wickets in 5 tests. Ashwin can also come second ahead of Anil Kumble with 11 wickets.
Kohli is the most successful Indian captain in Australia
Captain MS Dhoni, who won 27 Tests for India, has won a record 8 Tests in BGT. After him, Australia’s Michael Clarke and Steve Waugh have won 5-5 tests. However, the most successful Indian captains in Australia are Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. Both have won 2-2 tests for Team India on the last 2 tours. Whereas Dhoni has not been able to win a single test in Australia. From November 22, Australia will play the first Test under the captaincy of Pat Cummins and Team India Jasprit Bumrah.
