Border-Gavaskar Trophy

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Cricket is associated with Test series clashes between India and Australia. It is named after the cricketing legends Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, from Australia and India respectively.

The first Border-Gavaskar Trophy was played for in the 1997/98 season, which was won by India. India is also the current holder of the trophy after retaining it by drawing the series against Australia in 2003-2004.

Trophy History

Year	Played in	Result(Margin)	Player of the series
1997-1998	India	Won by India(2-1)	Sachin Tendulkar
1999-2000	Australia	Won by Australia(3-0)	Sachin Tendulkar
2000-2001	India	Won by India(2-1)	Harbhajan Singh
2003-2004	Australia	Series drawn(1-1)	Rahul Dravid

Cricketing contests between the two nations have always been of high intensity. For this reason, and with the decline in England's performances since the 1980s, the Border-Gavaskar trophy is now considered by many to be equal to, if not better than, the traditional Ashes series contests between England and Australia.

1997-98 series

to be written

1999-00 series

to be written

2000-01 series

The 2000-01 series was the most intense so far, and considered by many fans to be one of cricket's all-time classic confrontations, played over three gruelling Tests.

The First Test was played in Mumbai on 27 February-1 March 2001. The game was over in only three days as Australia dominated from the beginning, putting India in to bat and then dismissing them for only 176 runs. Glenn McGrath took 3-19 and Shane Warne 4-47, Sachin Tendulkar top scoring for India with 76. Australia responded with 349 on the backs of centuries by Matthew Hayden (119) and Adam Gilchrist (122). Harbhajan Singh took 4-121. India's second innings was barely better than their first, Tendulkar again top scoring with 65 in a total of 219. Needing only 47 runs to win, Australia's openers knocked them off in 7 overs, taking Australia to a 10 wicket victory and a 1-0 lead in the series.

The Second Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 11 March-15 March is regarded by many as without doubt one of the most exciting games ever played, although it began inauspiciously with Australia electing to bat and scoring 445, captain Steve Waugh contributing 110. Harbhajan Singh took 7-123. India's woes continued, being dismissed for only 171, with McGrath taking 4-18 in a brilliant bowling performance. Australia enforced the follow-on, and at the end of day 3 India were 254/4, still 20 runs behind forcing Australia to bat again. For many spectators, commentators, and even players, the match and the series were as good as lost for India.

The fourth day saw the turnaround. V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid batted the entire day, never offering a chance, and ran the Australian fielders ragged as Waugh called on nine different bowlers to try to break the partnership. Laxman and Dravid added 335 runs, taking India to 589/4 and a commanding lead in the game. In the process, Laxman set a new individual high score record for India, surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's 236. Laxman was finally dismissed the next day on 281. Dravid made 180, and India declared on day 5 at 657/7, setting Australia an almost impossible target of 384 runs. Australia crumbled under the suddenly reversed pressure and fell to Harbhajan Singh's 6-73 in reaching only 212 runs. India had come back from the dead and recorded a stunning 171-run victory to level the series 1-1.

The Third Test began at Chennai on 18 March with high expectations of a hard-fought series decider. Australia won the toss for the third time and elected to bat. Hayden batted through the first day for an eventual total of 203, but the rest of Australia's team contributed little to the total of 391. Again, Harbhajan Singh was the destroyer, taking 7-133. India pushed to 501 on the back of Tendulkar's 126. Australia ended day 4 at 241/7, a precarious lead of 131 runs. Early on day 5, Harbhajan again ran through the Australian tail, taking 8-84 and his series tally to an astounding 32 wickets, leaving Australia all out for 264. India had a target of 155 to chase, and plenty of time to do it. The only question was whether Australia's bowlers could get them out first. In 42 nail-biting overs, India steadily lost wickets, sinking to 135/7, a tantalising 20 runs short of victory, but in dire danger of losing their last batsmen before they could score them. The 8th wicket fell at 151, 4 runs short of victory, and it was left to wicket-keeper Sameer Dighe and, who else, Harbhajan Singh to see out the end. Fittingly, Harbhajan cut the winning runs past point and sealed the game and an incredible comeback series victory for India.

2003-04 series

The Indian cricket team toured Australia during November 2003 - February 2004, starting with a 4 Test series.

Before this tour, India had a poor record in Test matches away from home having won just 18 out of 176 tests.

The first Test match at Brisbane ended in a draw. India won the second Test at Adelaide but Australia bounced back to level the series at Melbourne. The fourth Test at Sydney was drawn. Rahul Dravid was adjudged the man of the series.

Following this was a tri-nation ODI series including Zimbabwe which was won by Australia.

to be expanded