When Did They Last Lose?

OFF and IND: With a win for both teams, India and Australia will look to win the fourth Test in Melbourne and take the lead in the five-match series. This is not just the Boxing Day test, but also a chance for both teams to take the first step towards the WTC final. The iconic Melbourne Cricket Stadium will host the fourth Test match starting on 26 December. Rescued from rain in the third match in Brisbane, the Indian team needed some encouragement. But their recent record at the MCG should give them great confidence.

India have played 14 Test matches at the MCG, winning four, losing eight and drawing two. These figures do not offer anything positive for India’s mentality going into the Boxing Day Test, but they are unbeaten in their last three Tests against Australia at the MCG. And this is enough to turn the upcoming conflict into an exciting contest.

India’s record in Tests at the MCG

Matches: 14
Won: 4
Loss: 8
Draw: 2

India’s last Test at the MCG was the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. Before going into the Boxing Day Test, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team witnessed their lowest ever Test batting total of 36 in the series opener in Adelaide and lost the match by 8 wickets. Ahead of the Melbourne Test, skipper Kohli flew to India for the birth of his first child and Ajinkya Rahane stepped in to lead the team.

Rahane led by example and completed the second century of his career at the MCG. He led India to a dominant win to level the series. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin He also contributed to India’s victory by taking the home side to 195 and 200 in two innings. Before Rahane’s heroics in the 2020-21 tour, India had achieved a memorable win at the MCG in the 2018-19 tour. The 90,000-seat venue hosted the third match of the four-match series, and both India and Australia entered the game with one win each in the first two matches.

India declared their first innings at 443 for 7 on the back of in-form Cheteshwar Pujara’s superb hundred and Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and fifties. Mayank Agarwal. Later, playing in his first Test match at the MCG, Bumrah took 6 wickets for 33 (his best figures against Australia) to take the home team to 151, giving India a dominant lead of 292 runs in the second innings.

India declared their second innings at 106 for 8, setting Australia a target of 399 runs just before lunch on Day 4. Bumrah stepped up again by taking three wickets and helped India bowl out Australia for 261 in the final session of Day 5 at the MCG. The win gave the traveling side a 2-1 lead and the final match in Sydney ended in a draw, ensuring India’s first historic Test series victory in Australia.

During the 2014-25 tour, MS Dhoni-led India managed to win the Melbourne Test, but it ended in a series defeat for India. Australia won the first two matches in the four-match series to take a 2-0 lead and went into the third match at the MCG knowing that a draw would be enough to retain their BGT silverware. Steve Smith’s 192 helped Australia post a first-innings total of 530 and India responded by posting 465 in the first innings with Kohli and Rahane hitting huge tons.

India had less than two days to avoid series defeat, but their bowlers had no answer to Australia’s in-form batting attack. Australia declared their second innings at 318 for 9, setting a target of 384 runs for India in the first session of Day 5. India lost their first three wickets for 19 but managed to avoid defeat after Virat Kohli scored a fifty and 48 off Rahane. The match ended in a draw, but the home team secured the series win and drew in the last game in Sydney.

India’s last defeat in Tests at the MCG

This was the infamous BGT 2011-12 tour, the last time India suffered a Test defeat at the MCG. Led by new skipper MS Dhoni, India witnessed Michael Clarke being destroyed by the Australian team and suffered a 4-0 defeat. He started in the first match of the series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Opting to bat first, Australia were bowled out for 333 in their first innings. Zahir Khan takes four wickets. This gave India an open invitation to take control of the game and a potential lead in the series. India had Test stalwarts Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, rising Virat Kohli and deployed captain MS Dhoni to respond with the bat.

Indian fans were cheering as Sehwag, Dravid and Tendulkar scored fifties as they finished Day 2’s play with a score of 214 for 3. But on Day 3, Australia staged a sensational comeback, pushing India to a total of 282 and taking a healthy lead of 51 runs.

Zaheer rose to the occasion again, picking three wickets, and Umesh Yadav contributed four wickets to take Australia to just 240 in the second innings. But once again, the Indian batsmen failed to hit a target of 292 runs despite batting over five sessions and suffered a massive 122-run defeat in the series opener, collapsing to 169 all out. India failed to recover from the defeat in Melbourne and lost the next three matches by huge margins.

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