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The fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. India won the first Test and Australia won the second Test, while the third Test was a draw. Therefore the series is tied at 1-1. If Team India wins even one of the last two Tests, it will retain the trophy. This is because India had won the last series in 2023.
Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most runs for India in the MCG, while Virat Kohli is on top among active batsmen. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah is the Indian who has taken the most wickets on this ground. The special thing is that India has won both its last Tests in Melbourne. In 2018, the team won by 137 runs and in 2020 by 8 wickets.
Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, India had won in Melbourne in 2018.
India’s record at Melbourne ground in story…
Virat has the most runs in the current team
Virat Kohli has the most runs in the current team in Melbourne. He made the Test draw here in 2014 by scoring a century. Then Kohli had scored 169 runs in the first inning and 54 runs in the second inning. He also played an important role in the 137-run victory over the Kangaroos in 2018. In that match, he scored 82 runs while playing captaincy innings. Virat has scored 316 runs in 3 tests on this ground.
Rishabh Pant has scored 101 runs in 2 tests here. Captain Rohit Sharma, batsman KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have been able to play only 1 test each on this ground so far. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has scored 66 runs and taken 8 wickets in 2 tests. Yashasvi Jaiswal will play his first international match on this ground.
Bumrah is on top among bowlers
Among the players of the current Indian squad, Jasprit Bumrah has taken 15 wickets in only 2 tests. He is also the top wicket taker of the series. After him Mohammad Siraj played a test in MCG and took 5 wickets. Nitish Reddy and Akash Deep will play a Test here for the first time.
Sachin Tendulkar overall top scorer
India played its first match against Australia in Melbourne in 1948. Since then, Sachin Tendulkar is at the top among the Indians who have scored the most runs. He has 449 runs in his name in 5 tests. Ajinkya Rahane has 2 centuries to his name here, he had played innings of 147 runs in 2014 and 112 runs in 2020. However, he is not part of the squad. After him, Virat has scored a century in 3 tests here.
Bumrah will overtake Kumble as soon as he takes one wicket
Jasprit Bumrah and Anil Kumble are at number one among the bowlers who have taken the most wickets in Melbourne. Both have 15-15 wickets. Bumrah will leave Kumble behind as soon as he takes 1 wicket in the Test starting from 26th December. In 2018, he also received the Player of the Match award for taking 9 wickets.
India has not lost in Melbourne for 10 years
Team India has not lost in Melbourne since 2014. Since then, India has played 3 Tests on this ground, won 2 and drawn one. Before 2014, India had to face defeat in 2 matches. MS Dhoni retired from Tests only after the MCG Test was drawn in 2014. After him, India won under the captaincy of Virat Kohli in 2018 and Ajinkya Rahane in 2020. Now Rohit Sharma faces the challenge of taking this legacy forward.
Australia ahead in overall record
India’s first win in Melbourne was in 1977, when the team defeated the Kangaroos by 222 runs. The team also won on this ground in 1981, after which it took 37 years for the team to win the Test here. Overall, 14 Tests were played between the two teams on this ground, India won in 4, while Australia won in 8. . During this period only 2 tests were drawn.
Why is the match played on 26th December called Boxing Day Test? The term ‘Boxing-Day Test’ in cricket originated from Australia’s home match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1892. The Test played in Australia and Africa on 26 December is called Boxing Day Test. In such a situation, it may seem that Boxing Day would have some connection with boxing, but it is not so.
Actually, the next day after Christmas (25 December) is called Boxing Day in many countries. The boxes of gifts received during the festival on 25th December are opened the next day on 26th December. That’s why this day is called Boxing Day. There is more tradition of celebrating it in Australia, New Zealand and African countries. There are different theories in different places in the world.
Theory-1: What is a Christmas box? The day after Christmas, people gift Christmas boxes to each other. Boxing Day is the first day of the week after the Christmas holiday. Earlier on this day many people used to go to work and their bosses used to gift them Christmas boxes. It is believed that that is why this day was named Boxing Day.
Theory-2: The box is kept in the church on Christmas There is another theory related to Boxing Day. It is said that a box is kept in the church during Christmas. In this box people keep gifts for the poor and needy. The next day after Christmas, that box is opened and the donated goods are distributed among the poor and needy.
, Also read this news related to Boxing Day Test… BGT 2024- Australian squad announced for the last 2 tests
Australia has announced the team for the last 2 Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. Two major changes have been made in this. Nathan McSweeney, who opened with Usman Khawaja in the first three Tests, has been dropped from the squad by the selectors, while 19-year-old opener Sam Constas has been included in the team for the first time. Read the full news…