Age of the current Indian Test squad when Australia last followed-on at home

Australia are on the cusp of losing the Test series against India at home for the first time in their illustrious cricketing history. They have been completely outplayed by the visitors who are also the number 1 Test side in the world. The series was in the balance after the first couple of Tests but things turned drastically in the latter half which never let the home team come back thanks to some lackluster batting from Australia.

Moreover, they faced with the ignominy of being followed-on in Sydney. This was the first instance since February 1, 1988, when a visiting team had enforced a follow-on on Australia at home. England was the opposition at that point in time and this time it was the Virat Kohli-led Team India. Incidentally, both the times, the venue has been Sydney.

In response to India’s mammoth total of 622, the hosts were skittled only for 300 and with a lot of rain around, the tourists decided to bowl again and win the game by an innings.

The same situation had occurred in Melbourne during the Boxing Day Test in the same series when Australia managed to muster only 151 runs in response to India’s total of 443/7 in the first innings. But then India were kind enough to bat again with a lot of time left in the game.

Pujara – Only seven days old

Australia pride on their home record. But the team missing two of its best players Steve Smith and David Warner, couldn’t put the best foot forward despite having the world’s best bowling attack in their ranks. Rather, the same bowling attack was pummeled in the last two Tests and their nemesis was none other than Cheteshwar Pujara who has amassed a massive 521 runs in this series.

The man who brought an embarrassment of follow-on to them was interestingly only seven days old when Australia was last followed-on at home. Murali Vijay was the oldest player in 1988 as he was born in 1984 while the other cricketers who were born before were Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravi Ashwin.

Australia were made to follow-on last in Tests (home or away) was in 2005 by England during the Ashes in Nottingham. No Indian player from the playing XI in Sydney Test had made his debut in whites and it took 149 Tests for any team to enforce a follow-on on the Aussies since 2005.

Here’s age of current Indian Test squad players when Australia were last made to follow-on at home:

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