What happened the last time India played a Test in Dharamsala?

India and England will resume what has been an incredibly thrilling series with the final Test at the HPCA stadium, Dharamsala from Thursday, March 7. The picturesque venue could allow the visitors to salvage pride as well as 12 World Test Championship (WTC) points as the hosts have already sealed the series 3-1.

England pushed India into a corner at several points in the Test series but the hosts had an answer for it on most occasions. The conditions in Dharamsala could give Ben Stokes and his men a feeling of familiarity and that could be their best chance to push Rohit Sharma and Co. to the limit one last time in the series.

Dharamsala has hosted just one Test match before the upcoming one. It was the final Test of another series where an opposition team challenged India in their own backyard.

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India beat Australia by eight wickets in Dharamsala Test in 2017

The 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy was like an arm-wrestle throughout as Australia and India pushed each other back throughout the series. It was perhaps fitting that Dharamsala was the venue that would be the potential decider of the four-match series with the scoreline being 1-1 coming into that game.

The hosts were dealt a massive blow as they were without their talisman Virat Kohli as the then-skipper had injured his shoulder in the previous Test in Ranchi. Ajinkya Rahane was the stand-in captain and he decided that India would go in with an extra bowler in debutant Kuldeep Yadav.

Australia won the toss and Steve Smith had no hesitation in batting first. At 144/1, the visitors threatened to bat the hosts out of the Test match, but it was Kuldeep who made a massive impact on debut. His figures of 4/68 meant that despite Smith's century (111), Australia were bowled out for 300 in their first innings.

While no batter from the hosts could get a big score, handy half-centuries from KL Rahul (60), Cheteshwar Pujara (57), and Ravindra Jadeja (63) allowed them to take a slender lead of 32 runs. Psychologically it was a boost for Rahane and Co. as they had lost the toss.

Australia couldn't withstand the relentless pressure from the quality Indian bowling in their second innings as they were bowled out for 137. Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja all picked up three wickets each.

The target of 106 wasn't really going to challenge the hosts albeit in the fourth innings. Rahul notched up yet another half-century, while Rahane's cameo of 38* off just 27 balls ensured there were no hiccups. The win ensured that Australia didn't retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.