Flashback : India tour of Australia Part 4 (2014-2019)

 

After a dissappointing tour of 2011-12 which saw India lose 4-0 and the exit of many of their ageing superstars , the new era of Indian cricket started to show up with Dhoni still at the helm but with new leaders emerging and Virat Kohli soon started to take centrestage as a leader  and premier batter as India embarked on yet another Australia tour in 2014 and followed that with a hostoric moment in 2018-19 as India starred to dominate the Aussie shores . 

India in Australia  : 2014-15

The 2014-15 Test series between Australia and India began under a cloud of tragedy. Australian batsman Phil Hughes had been struck by a bouncer in a domestic match and tragically passed away due to his injuries. The emotional impact on the Australian team was immense, and the series faced possible postponement. However, the Australian side ultimately rallied, determined to honor Hughes' memory on the field.

The first Test at Adelaide saw Virat Kohli stepping in as India's captain due to an injury to MS Dhoni, marking Kohli's debut as Test captain. The hosts, led by David Warner (145), Michael Clarke (128), and Steven Smith (162), posted a daunting 517 in the first innings. In reply, Kohli showcased his emerging stature, scoring a fluent 115 after being hit on the helmet by Mitchell Johnson at the start , with support from the top order with Vijay (53) , Pujara (73) , Rahane(62) & Rohit (43)  contrbuting well  , as India reached 444. Warner's (102) second century of the match and Clarke’s declaration at 290 set India a target of 364. Kohli (141) and Murali Vijay (99) launched a spirited chase, putting on 185 for the third wicket, but Nathan Lyon’s 7-wicket haul triggered a late collapse, and India fell short by 48 runs.

In Brisbane, Vijay continued his strong form with 144 while Rahane scored 81  as India reached 408 in the first innings. Australia responded with 505, thanks in part to stand-in captain Smith’s 133 and crucial lower-order contributions from Mitchell Johnson (88) and Mitchell Starc (52). India struggled in their second innings, scoring just 224 despite good efforts from Dhawan (81) & Pujara (43) as Mitchell Johnson ripped through the middle getting 4/61 including Kohli , which left Australia needing 128 to win. Despite some stumbles, the hosts secured a 4-wicket victory with Rogers scoring 55 . 

The third Test at Melbourne saw both teams’ batsmen thrive in a high-scoring draw. Steve Smith’s 192 guided Australia to 530, while Kohli (169) and Ajinkya Rahane (147) led India’s reply of 465 with superb tons . A good opening partnership and  a 99 from Shaun Marsh took Australia to 318/9 before the declaration.  India struggled but held on with the help of Kohli (54) & Rahane (48)  till the end at 174/6 to ensure a draw . With the series already decided, the conclusion of the match brought unexpected news—MS Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket, ending an era and paving the way for Kohli’s full-time captaincy.

The final Test in Sydney marked the start of the Kohli era. Smith, serving as Australia’s stand-in captain, scored 117, Warner (101) , Rogers(95) , Watson (81) all  made merry on a high scoring deck as Australia amassed 572/7 declared while Kohli responded with another masterful 147 . The match was memorable for young KL Rahul, who scored his maiden Test century (110) in just his second match as India replied with 475 . Australia declared their second innings at 251 after quick scoring from Smith (71) & Burns(66)  , setting India a target of 349. India held firm, with Vijay (80) and the middle order playing well while  Rahane (38*)and Bhuvneshwar Kumar stayed  unbeaten to secure a draw at 252/7

In the end, Australia took the series 2-0, overcoming the emotional weight of Hughes' loss and the fierce competition posed by a spirited Indian team led by a rapidly rising Virat Kohli.

As for the individual performances - Steve Smith (769) & Virat Kohli (692) led the batting charts followed by Murli Vijay (482) , David Warner (427) Chris Rogers (417) & Rahane (399) . On the bowling front Nathan Lyon took 23 wickets followed by Shami (15) , Mitchell Johnson (13) , Hazlewood (12) & Ashwin (12) . 

India in Australia  2018-19 

The 2018-19 tour of Australia by Team India finally proved to be a success after decades of visits . Australia were largely handicapped due to the unavailability of David Warner and Steve Smith for this series due to their 1 year suspension from international cricket by their cricket board for the roles they played in the sandpaper ball tampering incident in South Africa  in March 2018 .  Both were at their absolute peak of their careers . 

It meant Australia had to rejig their batting  and India under the aggressive leadership of Virat Kohli  found a great opening with their much improved bowling arsenal. 

The first test at Adelaide proved the brittleness of the Australia batting without Smith and  Warner.  India batted first and scored 250 and was helped by a solid Pujara (123) century - a shape of things to come. Australia batters struggled to counter the lethal bowling combo of Bumrah & Shami as they scratched to 235 all out with Travis Head scoring 72 . Seventies from Pujara (71) & Rahane (70) helped India to pile on 307 as Lyon took 6 wickets . With 322 target  to achieve , Australia batting looked vulnerable again . Shaun Marsh (60) & skipper  Tim Paine (41) contributed well . The bowling group performed with the bat with Cummins (28) & Starc (28)  , Lyon (38*) and Hazlewood ( 13) closing in on the target but India had the last laugh getting Hazlewood  (13) through Ashwin to win by 31 runs . Bumrah , Shami & Ashwin took 3 wkts each .

The 2nd test was played at the Optus stadium in Perth . Marcus Harris (70) & Travis Head (58) led a much improved Australia batting effort as the hosts scored 326 . India replied wih 283 with Virat Kohli (123)  getting a masterful hundred . Md Shami took 6 wickets as Australia were dismissed  for 243 in the 2nd innings as Khawaja made a grinding 72 . With 287 to win Australia skittled out India for 140 in the 2nd innings as the giant Aussie quicks ripped through the batting lineup. With the series now 1-1 the boxing day test is now in the horizon.  

The 3rd test at Melbourne saw India batting first and unleashed a debutant opener in Mayank Agarwal who scored an impressive 70 . Kohli (82) , Rohit (63) played the support cast as Pujara (106) hit another  century and India reach 443/7 declared .  Jasprit Bumrah finally announced himself on Australia soil with 6 wickets as he demolished the Australia  first innings for a paltry 151 setting up the win. India did not enforce the follow on as they batted again but Cummins 6 wickets restricted the tourists to 106/8 before Kohli declared . Set to score 399 runs to win , Australia top order could not get the big scores as all got out after getting starts . Cummins (63) tried hard but the target was beyond his reach as Australia were all out for 261 and thereby losing by 137 runs. Bumrah and Jadeja took 3 wickets each . Bumrah with 9 wickets was the player of the match as India now lead 2-1 in the series and now cannot lose as only 1 test remained to be played .

 

The 4th test at Sydney proved to be a batting featherbed . India batted first and Cheteswar Pujara scripted another marathon scoring 193 , Mayank Agarwal scored an impressive 77 and later Rishabh Pant piled on 159 not out with Jadeja scored 81 not out as India piled on more agony for Australia with a hige score of 622/7 declared and thereby ensuring the first ever series win on Australia soil. Rain played spoilsport in the remaining days as Australia were 300 allout in the first innings ( Harris 79 ) . Kuldeep Yadav got 5 wickets . India did enforce the follow on this time but rains prevented the final days play saving the hosts from further agony . With final test drawn , India scripted a historic first ever series win in Australia  by 2-1 . 

Player of the series Cheteswar Pujara (521) was the highest run getter in the series followed by Rishabh Pant (350) , Virat Kohli (282) & Marcus Harris (279) . In the bowling Bumrah and Nathan Lyon took 21 wickets each followed by Shami (16) & Cummins (14)