Another Ashes Test in Australia, another England defeat. Since the start of 2013, England have not tasted success Down Under, losing 11 of their last 12 matches. The “greatest rivalry” in the history of Test cricket is slowly but surely losing its sheen with England struggling to compete, let alone win Tests Down Under over the last few years.
England’s Ashes 2021-22 campaign began at the Gabba, Brisbane. The iconic venue was no longer the much-feared Gabbatoir as India breached Australia’s fortress earlier in January. England’s wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler sought inspiration, and rightly so, from India’s Gabba heroics, saying that it showed Australia are no longer unbeatable at the much-feared venue for touring teams.
However, it all went downhill for England as Australia clinched a 9-wicket victory in just 4 days to return to winning ways and extend their record over England at the Gabba to 13-4 with their last defeat coming in 1986. England opted to go in without their veteran pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the series opener but their return to the Pink-ball Test in Adelaide did not make much of a difference as they were hammered by 275 runs.
With the comfortable victory in Adelaide, Australia are 2-0 up in the 5-match series and are favourites to retain the Ashes Urn. If the first two Tests are anything to go by, England have a minuscule chance of avoiding another clean sweep Down Under.
England’s abject showing in Australia in the recent past only highlights the enormity of India’s performances Down Under in the recent past. No doubt India were hammered 4-0 during their trip in 2011-12 but under Virat Kohli’s reign, the Asian giants have given the mighty Australians a run for their money.
VIRAT KOHLI SHOWS SIGNS OF WHAT IS TO COME DOWN UNDER
Virat Kohli hit as many as 4 hundreds during India’s Test series in Australia (AFP Photo)
India won an unprecedented Test series in Australia in 2018-19, beating a Tim Paine-led side 2-1. The seeds for the series win were sown in 2014-15 when a Kohli-led team battled fire with fire, competing hard with Australia who were fresh from a historic Ashes victory. It was exciting to see Virat Kohli lead from the front with the bat against an Australian bowling line-up that had instilled fear in the minds of English batters earlier in the summer with Mitchell Johnson producing some career-ending spells.
Kohli took on Johnson & Co. with his in-our-face attitude that even the Australians found hard to handle. India lost the series 2-0 but the fight shown in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney was impressive.
ENGLAND SHOW INDIA’S 2018-19 VICTORY NO MEAN FEAT
4 years later, Australia were without their two premier batters in Steve Smith and David Warner as they were serving out bans following the ball-tampering scandal. But Australia still had a potent pace-bowling line-up with the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon at the peak of their careers.
England’s defeat in the 2nd Test in Adelaide is another reminder of why India’s victory in 2018-19 is no mean feat. Despite not having Cummins and Hazlewood, Australia were able to decimate England with the ball in the 2nd Test.
Australia had won the Ashes in 2017-18, but they headed into the home series against India in bid to regain respect from the public after the scandal in Cape Town that brought disgrace to the sport. India went 1-0 up in Adelaide but lost in Perth only to fight back and win the Boxing Day Test. India could have returned home with a 3-1 scoreline had rain not played spoilsport in Sydney after India posted a mammoth 622 on the board.
Cheteshwar Pujara showed the way to neutralise the Australian bowling attack as he ground out the pacers and frustrated Nathan Lyon so much so that the off-spinner asked if he was not bored of occupying the crease. Pujara batted 1258 balls in the 2018-19 series and scored 521 runs to inspire a historic Test series victory.
Pujara hitt 521 runs to help India’s beat Australia for the first time in a Test series Down Under (Reuters Photo)
WHEN AUSTRALIA WERE HUMBLED AT HOME, AGAIN
Cut to 2020-21, India faced a full-strength Australian team at their backyard. Smith and Warner were back and Marnus Labuschagne had emerged as one of the linchpins of the Australian batting unit. The visitors were humbled in the series opener, getting bowled out for their lowest-ever Test score of 36.
India were written off, especially as Virat Kohli was returning home on paternity leave after the Adelaide Test. But India responded brilliantly in the 2nd Test in Melbourne, hammering Australia by 8 wickets to go 1-1. Led by stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane’s hundred and much-talked-about support from Ravi Shastri-led coaching team, India played fearless cricket Down Under and the MCG Test was a show of the Asian side’s character in crisis situations.
Much has been written and said about the Sydney Test where India eked out a heroic draw. The manner in which India resisted the Australian push was in stark contrast to the way England went about their business in Adelaide in the 2nd Test on Day 5. India mixed aggression with caution. At one end, Pujara was doing what he does best and at the other, Rishabh Pant was giving Australia a major scare.
Pant hit a quickfire 97 and it looked like India were going for the victory, chasing a mammoth 407-run target. The wicketkeeper-batsman got out while trying to inflict more pain on Lyon following which India shelved their plan of pushing for a victory. Hanuma Vihari, who battled through injury, and R Ashwin came up with a masterclass of defensive batting, adding just 62 runs in 42.4 overs. The duo batted out more than a session to keep India alive in the series.
GABBA FORTRESS BREACHED IN STUNNING INDIA WIN
India scripted history, breaching the Gabba fortress in 2021 (AP photo)
By the time the Sydney Test was coming to a close, Australia took the sledging route even as reports claimed India were unwilling to travel to Brisbane due to Covid-19 restrictions. Then Australia captain Paine was heard on the stump mic urging Ashwin and the rest of his teammates to dare to come to the Gabba.
“See you at the Gabba, mate,” Paine had said. But what happened at the Gabba over the course of 5 days in January 2021 will linger forever in the minds of Indian cricket fans. India did not have Kohli and went into the Test without their first-choice bowling line-up. But India scripted history, showing grit and character that is clearly lacking in the touring England side.
India were set a target of 329 going into the final day of the Gabba Test. Led by Ajinkya Rahane, India not only saved the Test but ended up winning it, thanks to fearless batting from Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant and another heroic resistance from Pujara.
The likes of Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and Washington Sundar did what established England bowlers haven’t been able to do in Australia so far – pick up 20 Australian wickets.
England can still fight their way back into the Ashes series and even return home with the Urn but Joe Root and Chris Silverwood don’t inspire the same confidence that Rahane and Shastri displayed on Australian soil 10 months ago.