A Brief Look Back At India Tour of Australia In the Last Decade

The most anticipated part of this tour will be the four-match test series. When India toured Australia last time in 2018-19, they won the test series for the first time in history. This time Australia will be coming as a much stronger team as Steve Smith and David Warner will be back into the team after serving their ban.

The Indian tour of Australia has always been a series to watch for viewers worldwide. It has seen some great rivalries and face-offs between the players.

Let's take a brief look back at the India tour of Australia in the last decade (2010-2020):

1) India Tour of Australia (2011-12) - India was traveling down under after suffering a heavy defeat of 4-0 in their England tour earlier in 2011. MS Dhoni-led side was to defend the Border-Gavaskar trophy in this series against an Australian side who was at their peak.  Michael Clarke was the newly appointed Australian test captain and the test series against India was his first full assignment. The Indian team was playing their four most experienced players - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, and VVS Laxman for the very last time together. However, the team never looked comfortable throughout the series on the field as Australians thrashed Indians in every game. India lost the Border-Gavaskar trophy 4-0 to Australians. The new Australian captain Michael Clarke not only did an excellent job as a leader but was the highest run-scorer(626) in the series and was adjudged Player of the Series.

2) India Tour of Australia (2014-15) - It was an emotional series for the Australian team and the whole cricketing world after the shocking death of Philip Hughes before the series in a freak accident on the field. The test series was also the end of two legend players - MS Dhoni and Michael Clarke. Michael Clarke injured himself in the first test and announced that he might never play again while Dhoni announced his surprise retirement after the third test match. Clarke and Dhoni's retirement also saw the rise of new faces of Australian and Indian cricket - Steve Smith and Virat Kohli. Both players were made permanent captains of their respective countries. The Indian team lost the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2-0 to Australia. However, this series marked a new era of Indian Cricket under the leadership of Virat Kohli. Australian captain Steve Smith was adjudged as Player of the Series for scoring 769 runs in the four matches, which included four centuries and two half-centuries.

3) India Tour of Australia (2018-19) - Indian team arrived in Australia for this series as clear favorites for the time. The Australian team was at their lowest in world cricket due to the controversies around Steve Smith and David Warner. Both players were banned from playing cricket for a year so they could not participate in the series against India. Australia had a new coach, a new captain, and a new team. India, on the other hand, were at their peak as a test team under the leadership of Virat Kohli. As predicted, the Indian team thrashed the Australians for the first time in history in their backyard. India won 2-1 in the four-match test series in which the final test was washed out. Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest run-scorer(521) in the test series and was adjudged Player of the Series. Pujara scored three centuries and one fifty in the four matches, Also read India tour of Australia 2020-21