5 greatest performers in Border-Gavaskar trophy

The Australia versus India Test series was renamed as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 1996 in honour of two legends, namely Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar who played for Australia and India respectively. It is one of the most keenly contested Test series in International cricket. This series has seen the two teams form one of the biggest rivalries in cricket over the last decade or so, given that India regularly challenged the might of the then world champions. In a high-octane series like this, often there are many players who bring their A game to the fore. However, there are a select few who have performed consistently over the course of various series and left their imprint on this high profile series. Let’s take a look at 5 such performers:

#5 Rahul Dravid

2143 runs at an average of 39.68 are not numbers that really merit a place in the list of top performers. However, in this case, we are looking beyond the numbers. We are looking at the impact that this man had and the significant role that he played each time the Indians won against the mighty Aussies. Be it the famous Kolkata Test of 2001 or Adelaide 2003 or even Perth 2008 for that matter, the Wall always played his part when Team India tamed the Kangaroos.

He was adjudged the Man of the Series in the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series where he scored 619 runs at a superhuman average of 123.80. In both innings of the Adelaide Test, he countered the Australian bowlers effectively and helped Indian win a Test in Australia after 22 long years. In the Mumbai Test of 2004 where India edged out Australia by 14 runs, he was the captain of the Indian team. He shuffled his bowlers really well as the Aussies fell like 9 pins in pursuit of an easy target.

Though India’s victory at Perth in 2008 is often remembered for the heroics of Ishant Sharma and the other Indian pacers, Jammy played a significant role in that victory as well. It was his innings of 93 and crucial partnership of 139 for the 3rd wicket with Sachin Tendulkar that enabled India to post a respectable total of 330.

Given that the Indians were 2-0 down at that juncture, the Aussie bowlers had their tails up in conditions that were tailor-made for bowling. However, Dravid countered the pace and the bounce of the wicket with relative ease and narrowly missed out on a well-deserved century.

The below video is an account of the brilliant innings that the former India captain played at Perth:

#4 Michael Clarke

The current Australian captain made his Test debut against India in 2004. Since then, he has taken a liking for the Indians as he has been one of their biggest tormentors in this bilateral contest. He ranks fifth in the list of top run-scorers in the Border-Gavaskar trophy with an aggregate of 1914 runs at a stellar average of 53.16 that includes 6 centuries, one an unbeaten triple hundred and a double century to go with it. His fitness is bound to improve given that he still has a lot of cricket left in him.

The reason why he pips his idol Ricky Ponting to make this list is that unlike Punter, Clarke has a good record in India. In Tests played in India, Pup has scored 972 runs at a decent average of 40.50. In fact, he has scored a hundred on every tour of India except for the 2010-11 tour.

His love for India is also evident from the fact that his best bowling figures of 6/9 have also come against India. Add to that, 14 of his 31 Test wickets have come against India. He ably led a relatively inexperienced Aussie team to a 4-0 rout of India in the 2011-12 Border-Gavaskar trophy.

In the 2013 Test series that Australia lost 4-0, he was the only Aussie batsman who was able to counter the Indian bowlers effectively. One of his best knocks came in the Sydney Test of the 2011-12 series. After India were shot out for 191, the Kangaroos were in a spot of bother at 37/3 when Pup made his way to the crease. He then stitched together a 288-run partnership for the 4th wicket with Ponting and an unbeaten stand of 334 for the 5th wicket with Mike Hussey as Australia reached a mammoth score of 659/4 declared.

The Aussie skipper remained undefeated on 329. Relive that brilliant innings in the video below:

#3 VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman versus Australia = Very Very Special. This was an unwritten rule that was true for a major part of the Hyderabadi’s career. Nobody relished facing the Aussies as much as this former Indian middle-order great did. The former world number one team found themselves so helpless against this wristy maestro that one of their fans once jokingly said: ”We will declare a national holiday in Australia the day VVS Laxman retires from cricket.”

He ranks 3rd in the list of the highest run-scorers in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, He scored 2434 runs at an average of 49.67 which included 6 hundreds. Irrespective of whether the series was played in India or Australia, the now 40-year-old did have his say in the series.

In matches played in Australia, he scored 1236 runs at an average of 44.14, whereas in India, he aggregated 1198 runs at an average of 54.45. In fact, the stylish Hyderabadi scored a hundred in every tour in Australia except for 2011-12.

There were several occasions when Laxman stood like a firm rock between Australia and victory. The 2010 Mohali Test is a case in point. Chasing 216 for victory, India were in dire straits at 124/8 and were staring down the barrel. Laxman then combined with Ishant Sharma to stitch 81 for the 9th wicket. With able assistance from Pragyan Ojha, he took India home as the hosts won an absolute cliffhanger. What was really admirable about this innings was that Laxman continued batting in spite of having back spasms.

Enjoy the highlights of that memorable Test in the below video:

#2 Glenn McGrath

One of the greatest to play the game, Glenn McGrath was arguably the best medium-pace bowler of his era. He lived up to this billing of his in one of the most high-profile Test series of his time. With 51 wickets at an excellent average of 18.65 and a miserly economy rate of 2.23, he was one of the best pacers in the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Though the spotlight was occupied by Shane Warne in most of these series, Pidge was the man who delivered the goods for the Aussies.

He also enjoyed bowling to Sachin Tendulkar which is evident from the fact that he has dismissed the Little Master 6 times. Interestingly, out of the 51 wickets that the 44-year-old picked up, 33 of them came in India. One cannot help but admire the quality of his bowling given the fact that there is not much assistance for medium pacers in India. His heroics with the ball helped Australia win a Test series in India after 34 long years in 2004.

Watch how he dominated Virender Sehwag in the 2004-05 Test series in the video given below:

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Easily the best performer in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by a long distance, the Master Blaster has featured in every edition of the Border-Gavaskar trophy till date and is the leading run-scorer in this high profile contest with 3262 runs at an excellent average of 56.24. Out of the 11 editions of this coveted trophy that Sachin Tendulkar featured in, he scored at least a century in 7 of them. He also holds the record for the most number of centuries in this competition having compiled as many as 9 of them.

The God of Cricket also clinched 3 Player of The Series awards as well. The Mumbaikar’s contributions were not just restricted to the bat. He was pretty good with the ball too. He picked up 8 wickets as well and more often than not, they were pretty important ones. Many people remember Harbhajan’s deadly spells in both innings of the famous Kolkata Test of 2001.

However, even Tendlya played his part with the ball in the 2nd innings wherein he picked up the crucial wickets of Matthew Hayden (who was well set), Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne. His contributions do not end there. He was also the captain in 2 of the series, one of which India won and the other lost.

One of his best performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy came in the 1997-98 Test series at home. This series was billed as Tendulkar vs Warne. The Little Master won the battle by a fair distance as his batting gave the spin maestro nightmares. Sachin aggregated 446 runs in that series at a Bradmanesque average of 111.50 which included 2 centuries. Relive Sachin’s performance in that series in the video given below: