India defeat Australia Down Under: Here is a list of India’s maiden away Test series wins

India made history on Monday when they picked up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the Australian soil after defeating Australia 2-1 in the four-Test series that concluded with the drawn game in Sydney. India looked favourites to win the fourth Test as well but could not finish off the job even after asking the Aussies to follow on because of bad weather and light. Virat Kohli became the first captain in over eight decades of India’s Test history to win a Test series Down Under, bettering the three drawn series that were the best for India so far in Australia.

With this win, India now have won Test series on soils of all Test-playing nations, except South Africa. Technically, they haven’t beaten Afghanistan and Ireland – the two latest Test-playing nations – whom they are yet to play. India were yet to beat three big teams in their den in Tests when the 21st century dawned – Australia, South Africa and Pakistan – but now have won in two of them.

The last big team India defeated in an away Test series for the first time was Pakistan where Sourav Ganguly’s team won a three-match Test series 2-1 in 2004. Technically though, India’s last maiden victory against a country in an overseas Test series came against Zimbabwe in 2005.

Here we take a look at all the first time victories by India against opponents in Tests abroad:

1. India defeated New Zealand 3-1 in four-Test series in 1968:

New Zealand have been a team that has done well against India and their first away win in a Test series against the Kiwis came the very first time they toured that country in 1967-68. It was only the third Test series to be played between the two sides and India were led by Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

The hosts drew level in the second Test at Christchurch after India won the evenly fought first in Dunedin by 5 wickets. But then India went on to win the final two games in Wellington and Auckland by 8 wickets and 272 runs, respectively, to make the series 3-1. Barry Sinclair led the Kiwis in the first Test while Graham Dowling was the captain for the rest of the matches.

While the late Ajit Wadekar was India’s highest scorer in the series with 328 runs, spinner Erapalli Prasanna ended as the top wicket-taker with 22 scalps. This is India’s first-ever Test series win abroad.

2. India defeated Windies 1-0 in five-Test series in 1971

This was India’s sixth Test series against the Windies since their rivalry started in 1948-49 and after the 5-0 thumping they received on the previous tour of the Caribbeans in 1961-62, not many had thought that the Asians would turn on the tables this time.

Ajit Wadekar was the captain of the Indian side while Sir Garry Sobers was in the charge of the Windies. This series was the debut of Sunil Gavaskar and he amassed 774 runs, establishing him at once as one of the game’s greatest batsmen. The first, third, fourth and fifth Tests in Kingston, Georgetown, Bridgetown and Port of Spain were drawn while India won the second match in Port of Spain by 7 wickets to register their historic first in the Caribbeans.

It was Gavaskar’s debut Test as well and he scored 65 and 67 not out in two innings, respectively. Spinner S Venkataraghavan took 22 wickets in the series.

3. India defeated England 1-0 in three-Test series in 1971

This was another big away series win for India in 1971. It was almost four decades since India played their first Test against England in 1932 (also their overall first Test) but the first away victory came only in 1971 and it was under Wadekar again. When India went to England that year, they had no win and 15 defeats in their 19 Tests played in English conditions.

In fact, their only series victory over England till then was the one at home in 1961-62. But things changed when India won the third Test of the series at the Kennington Oval by 4 wickets after the first two matches at Lord’s and Old Trafford were drawn.

Ray Illingworth’s England took a crucial 71-run lead in the first innings but a six-for by Bhagwath Chandrasekhar saw India set a target of 173 and they overhauled it losing 6 wickets. Wadekar was the highest scorer for India in the series with 204 runs.

4. India defeated Sri Lanka 1-0 in three-Test series in 1993

Even though India had toured Sri Lanka in 1985, three years after they started playing the longer format, the experienced opponent lost the three-Test series 0-1. It was only in 1993 that India beat the Islanders in a Test series in their den for the first time. Led by Mohammad Azharuddin, India defeated Arjuna Ranatunga’s Sri Lanka by 235 runs in the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, thanks to an all-round performance from Manoj Prabhakar.

The first Test in Kandy was washed out in the rain while the third and final one at the P Sara Oval in Colombo was drawn. Prabhakar and Aravinda de Silva were picked as the players of the series. Vinod Kambli hit two hundreds in this series. It was the only Test that Azharuddin could win overseas during his decade-long captaincy career.

5. India defeated Bangladesh in one-off Test in 2000

Led by Sourav Ganguly, India went to play Bangladesh in November 2000 in a one-off Test which was also the inaugural one for them. Bangladesh captain Naimur Rahman won the toss and the newcomers stunned India by scoring 400 runs in their first innings. India did well to take a 29-run lead from 190 for 5 at one stage and then a slump in Bangladesh’s second innings saw the visitors winning the game by 9 wickets.

All-rounder Sunil Joshi’s eight-wicket haul in the match along with 92 runs scored in the first innings when the team was in need earned him the Man of the Match award. India are yet to lose a Test match against Bangladesh although they have played nine Test matches in the last 18 years.

6. India defeated Pakistan 2-1 in three-Test series in 2004

This is one of the most memorable Test series that India have played. Their rivalry with Pakistan started in 1952-53 but never before could they win a Test series on Pakistani soil, even though the arch-rivals won a Test series in India under Imran Khan in 1986-87. The stakes were high as the series also marked a peace initiative between the two neighbours the relationship between whom has not been in the best of health.

After winning the ODI series 3-2, India started as the favourites in the Test series. However, India’s regular captain Sourav Ganguly missed the first two Tests after suffering an injury during the ODIs and the side was led by Rahul Dravid. India won the first Test in Multan by an innings and 52 runs, thanks to India’s first triple ton in Tests by Virender Sehwag and a 194 not out from Sachin Tendulkar.

Inzamam-ul-Haq’s Pakistan hit back in the next Test in Lahore winning by 9 wickets but it was Dravid’s 270 in the third Test in Rawalpindi that saw India thumping the hosts by an innings and 131 runs. Sehwag was adjudged the Man of the Series with over 400 runs while Anil Kumble took 15 wickets.

7. India defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 in two-Test series in 2005

Even though Zimbabwe were always a low-ranked team in Tests, India took long to earn their first victory against the African side in their territory. They first went to play in Zimbabwe in 1992 and escaped with a draw. In 1998, India lost the one-off Test in Zimbabwe while the three-game series in 2001-02 was drawn 1-1.

It was only in 2005 that India tasted their maiden Test series victory on Zimbabwean soil by winning a two-game series 2-0. India won the first Test in Bulawayo by an innings and 90 runs and the second in Harare by 10 wickets. It was Ganguly’s last series as the captain of India as he was sacked soon after during a time when his tussle with Greg Chappell was at the peak.

8. India defeated Australia 2-1 in four-Test series in 2018-19

The 14-year gap between defeating two foreign teams on their soil (Zimbabwe 2005 to Australia 2019) is only the second longest after that between 1971 and 1993 but nevertheless, it is better late than never. India have always struggled in Australia over the decades and finally, Virat Kohli’s side reversed the trend by registering a 2-1 win.

India won the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs and the third in Melbourne by 137 runs. Australia won the second game in Perth by 146 runs. Australia were led in this series by Tim Paine while Cheteshwar Pujara was picked as the Man of the Series for his three magnificent tons.

The only big team which India are left to beat away from home is South Africa and they had lost to the Proteas 1-2 early last year. India’s best show in South Africa till now is drawing a three-match series 1-1 in 2010-11. In 2006-07, India had taken a 1-0 lead over the but eventually lost the three-match series 1-2.

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