Australia vs India: Similarities and dissimilarities between Border Gavaskar Trophy 2000-01 and 2020-21

‘Unbelievable’ could be the term to define the just-concluded Test series between Australia and India Down Under. The Asian powerhouse had won the 2018-19 series in Australia 2-1 — the first time ever they accomplished such a feat — and the Kangaroos were keen to avenge that humiliation this time around.

They started off well by winning the first Test in Adelaide by 8 wickets despite conceding a first-innings lead in the day-night affair. India’s collapse for only 36 runs in the second innings gave the supporters little hope of the visitors making any comeback in the four-match series, particularly after regular skipper Virat Kohli returned home to attend his wife’s delivery.

But India made what looked impossible, possible. Ajinkya Rahane led from the front in the second match in Melbourne with a hundred as the tourists beat Australia by 8 wickets and then after a hard-earned draw in Sydney, India snatched a memorable victory in Brisbane — their first ever — to clinch the series 2-1.

Kohli’s absence was not the only challenge that India faced in the series. They kept on losing players to injury and added to that was racial abuses that came flying from the stands and indecent behavior shown by the Aussies on the turf. India somehow managed to assemble 11 players and went on to win their second successive Test series Down Under.

For many, this series at once revived the memory of the 2000-01 series which was played between the same two cricketing superpowers in India. That series was won 2-1 by India as well (a three-game one though) but it was not just the scoreline that defined that war. Sourav Ganguly’s India locked horns with the ‘invincibles’ led by Steve Waugh and refused to give up till the final battle was won in Chennai. There were many epics that were scripted in that series, just like the just concluded one and one will not be mistaken to say that the debate over which remains the better one will continue unsettled for eternity.

Yet, for cricket lovers, we can compare the two historic series fought two decades apart. There are similarities and dissimilarities but what stood out in both instances is the superiority of the longest format of the game. Twenty years later, when T20 cricket rules the roost, the charm of the oldest format was not lost and it was witnessed at the Gabba on Tuesday, the final day of the Test series.

First the similarities

India win by coming from behind: In the 2001 series, Australia came to India with 15 consecutive Test wins on the trot and decimated the Indians by 10 wickets in the first match played in Mumbai. Barring Sachin Tendulkar’s double fifties in the match, India did not have much to show in their batting and Australia blew them away, just like they did in Adelaide in the latest series. But then, India struck back and it was a massive turnaround. Steve Waugh’s men got India inside a coffin but failed to find the nails, thanks to superhuman shows from VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh. India won the second Test match in Kolkata by 171 runs despite following on and then won a nail-biting third Test in Chennai by 2 wickets to bag the series 2-1.

Halting Australia’s march: The 2001 series saw Ganguly’s men halting Australia’s juggernaut after the Kangaroos won 16 consecutive Test matches, which is still a record (Australia had another similar winning streak and it was also ended by India in 2008 in Perth). This time, Rahane’s men brought to an end Australia’s 31-match unbeaten streak at the Gabba — the venue where they did not lose since 1988 till Tuesday. The last time they lost at that ground was against the West Indies by 9 wickets.

All matches won by teams batting second: The two historic series featured seven matches in all and out of them, all but one was decided. All the six results in these two series went in favor of the side that batted second and India were the only side to win a game by runs batting second and it was the unforgettable Eden Gardens game in 2001. While Australia won both their games (Mumbai, 2001 and Adelaide, 2021) by 10 wickets, India won four matches by 171 runs (Kolkata, 2001), 2 wickets (Chennai, 2001), 8 wickets (Melbourne, 2021) and 3 wickets (Brisbane, 2021).

Two Indian players made their debut in deciding games in both series: In 2001, India won a thriller in Chennai by 2 wickets to win the series 2-1 after Australia made them earn each of the 155 runs set as a target. Debutant Sameer Dighe played a crucial knock of 22 not out at No.7 in the second innings to see the hosts home in that match. In Brisbane, Washington Sundar, another debutant, played a similar knock of 22 runs at the same position to give Rishabh Pant a much-needed company to help India overhaul the target of 328. Also besides Dighe and Sundar, another set of players made their debut for India in the 2001 and 2021 series, respectively, and they are Sairaj Bahutule and T Natarajan. Another similarity is that both Bahutule and Sundar are spinner-all-rounders.

Now, the dissimilarities

The 2001 series was Australia’s final frontier, 2021 not so for India: The 2020-21 series has been played in Australia while that in 2001 was held in India. For Steve Waugh’s men two decades ago, India was seen as the final frontier that the Australians couldn’t breach since 1969-70 (they did it later in 2004-05). But for India in 2020-21, a Test series in Australia was no more the final frontier. They won their maiden Test series Down Under just two summers back and this win was an assertion that the 2018-19 victory was no fluke. India’s win in 2001, on the other hand, was immensely satisfying from the point of view that it halted Australia’s one-sided dominance.

Not too many hundreds in 2021: The 2001 series witnessed a number of big knocks that were played by batsmen from either side. Mathew Hayden slammed a double hundred in Chennai besides a ton in Mumbai while Adam Gilchrist made a hundred in Mumbai as well. Sachin Tendulkar hit a crucial ton in Chennai while Steve Waugh hit one in Kolkata.

However, it was the epic 281 from VVS Laxman and 180 from Rahul Dravid that were considered the foundation of India’s historic series win. Compared to that, the 2020-21 series did not see too many tons. India’s only hundred in this series came from stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and it was a crucial 112 at the MCG. Australia had more hundreds (two) that came from Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne but a couple of 90s from Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill did the tourists a great favor in the series.

Man of the series from the losing team: The 2001 series saw a young Harbhajan Singh emerging as the man of the series with a phenomenal tally of 32 wickets in three Tests. In 2021, yet another bowler picked the man of the series award but he was not from the winning team. Pacer Pat Cummins was adjudged the player of the series after taking 21 wickets, the most in the series.

Not too many debuts in 2001: Thanks to the series of injuries, India played as many as 20 players in the 2021 series and that saw as many as five players making their debut. They included: Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, T Natarajan, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini. In the 2001 series, on the other hand, only three made their debut and they were: Rahul Sanghvi, Sauraj Bahutule and Sameer Dighe.

It was all Harbhajan in the 2001 series: In the 2001 series, Australia lost 50 wickets in three Tests and 32 of them were picked by Harbhajan alone (64 percent). In 2021, India’s spinners were far less effective compared to that effort from the Turbanator although it can’t be denied that they played their parts in the historic win. In the just-concluded series, three Indian spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Sundar took 23 wickets in all (out of 68 wickets that fell or 34 percent). It is obvious that wickets in Australia would favor spinners less but yet that was a big difference between the two memorable series.