India still hungry for success in Australia
STEVE Waugh famously described winning a Test series in India as the “final frontier” but the same phrase can be used to describe the challenge confronting Virat Kohli’s side.
The contest that starts in Adelaide on Thursday is India’s 12th attempt to win a Test series in Australia.
The closest they have come is a drawn series in 1980/81, 1985/86 and 2003/04. Winning games has been hard enough.
Their record in Australia, starting with a crushing series loss to Don Bradman’s side in 1948, is five wins from 44 Tests.
The lack of success can be attributed to a range of factors, the most obvious being that Australian pitches have generally been the antithesis of what Indian players are used to.
It’s also worth noting India were forced to wait 20 years after their first Test tour for another trip to Australia. A 10year break then followed their second Test tour.
Such a hiatus is unthinkable in the modern era.
The growing financial clout of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has ensured its team returns increasingly well-resourced on every occasion, but that hasn’t resulted in more success.
India’s most recent Test win here came in 2008, when Ishant Sharma helped them upset a jaded XI in the first Test. Prior to that it was a four-wicket win in Adelaide in 2003, when Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman memorably shared an epic 303-run stand in response to a Ricky Ponting double-ton.
Super batsman Kohli has played eight Tests in Australia, scored almost 1000 runs and produced three centuries in Adelaide, but is yet to triumph.