Australia vs India: A cricket rivalry played by and for cricket

Every sporting rivalry usually has a political undertone. Modern sporting rivalries have their roots in historical events, border conflicts, and years of geopolitical unrest. In cricket, it is the same. Australia versus England, India versus Pakistan. New Zealand versus Australia… All of these fantastic rivalries between teams on the field have their roots in preexisting disagreements over other matters. Possibly the only rivalry that doesn’t fall under this category is Australia vs. India. It’s the only cricket match that was invented just for the game. There is no actual political rivalry between Australia and India because their paths have seldom met in the past. In terms of business dealings, things are generally friendly. However, things are not the same on the cricket field. When Australia and India play cricket against one another, it feels like a personal match between two nations that has been at odds for a while.

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The rivalry graph between Australia and India also, in many ways, represents the development of Indian cricket. For the most of the 1800s, the competition was biased. India was only viewed as a threat by Australia during their tour. They were clearly in the lead in every other venue. Consider this: India had only won three away Test matches against Australia between 1947 and 1999. Two of them occurred during the 1977 trip, when almost two dozen of Australia’s first-choice cricket players signed with the rival Kerry Packer league, forcing them to select a third-string team captained by 41-year-old comeback player Bob Simpson. Nevertheless, India dropped the series 2-3. On their subsequent tour in 1981, they were forced to settle for one triumph. India won’t win a Test match in Australia for the next 20 years.

Cheer for Team India as they take on Australia in the World Cup final!

There was nothing to be proud of about the ODI numbers. With a few notable exceptions like the Titan Cup and the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah, India’s wins were few and far between. In One-Day Internationals played outside of India, Australia’s head-to-head record stood at 24-13 until 1999.

It’s hard to say which series or competition started the trend, although most analysts agree that it was 2001. The legendary series that witnessed it all. Sourav Ganguly’s courageous team put an end to Australia’s impressive run of 16 straight Test victories. This historic occasion signaled a shift in the relationship between the two titans of cricket, ushering in a new age of parity even though the match was played in India, where they were always the stronger side even against the finest of sides. Cricket legend has been created about how India recovered to win the Kolkata Test despite losing a follow-on thanks to a legendary partnership between VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid.

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The ensuing ten years saw compelling matches that turned the India vs. Australia matchups into fights between equals. The legendary MS Dhoni, in particular, made history in 2008 when he led India to their first-ever ODI (tri)-series triumph over Australia. What had started out as an unfair competition had developed into a fierce rivalry that drew supporters and aficionados from all around the world.

With the creation of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the mid-1990s, the rivalry between Australia and India saw a notable uptick in intensity. This esteemed Test series gave the match a deeper significance and established India as a serious challenger to Australia’s cricketing dominions.

India’s true superiority was on display during their tours in 2018–19 and 2020–21. In Australia, Kohli made history as the first Indian skipper to guide his team to a Test series win. Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane followed suit a few years later. India became a serious challenge to Australia’s dominion after winning two Test series in a row down under.

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In the domain of these riveting interactions, flashes of pure genius have highlighted the competition. The thrilling draw in the Test match in Chennai, previously Madras, is evidence of the ferocity with which these matches are fought. The India vs Australia rivalry is woven together by a multitude of memorable events, including the legendary ‘Desert Storm’ of 1998, when Sachin Tendulkar achieved the pinnacle of batting excellence, Ricky Ponting’s thrilling 140 in the 2003 World Cup final, Nathan Lyon’s mesmerizing spell dismantling the Indian batting lineup at Adelaide 2014 (a match in which Virat Kohli scored hundreds in both innings), and a young Sachin Tendulkar’s masterclass at the WACA.

The cricket world knows this won’t be the last as Pat Cummins-led Australia and Rohit Sharma’s India prepare to write another exciting chapter in their illustrious rivalry in the Ahmedabad World Cup 2023 final.