Australia's top 3 worst batting performances against India
Australia were hammered by India in the first test as they were beaten by an innings and 132 runs at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first but the visitors failed to capitalize on that.
They did not manage to put up a big score on the board following which India, led by a Rohit Sharma century, piled 400 to hand the hosts a massive lead of 233 runs.
Not many gave the Aussies a chance in the game after the first innings, but no one expected the disaster that followed.
Australia put up an embarrassing performance with the bat in their second dig, as it was one of the worst performances in their history.
Here, we look at 3 of Australia's worst batting performances against India in the longest and truest form of the game.
#1 91 all out, Nagpur (2023)
As mentioned earlier, Australia put up a horror show with the bat in the second innings of the first test. Trailing by 233 runs, it was always going to be difficult for the Pat Cummins-led side to win the game, but people expected Australia to put up a fight, as they always tend to do. However, what followed was a disaster.
Australia were bowled out for 91, handing India an emphatic win. Ravichandran Ashwin picked up five wickets, all being of left-handed batters.
Steve Smith was the only batter who looked like he had a method to counter the Indian spinner as the rest of them tried to defend without any plan. Then there were a couple of others who, it seems, did not trust their defense and tried to play aggressively, without much success.
Post the game, even Indian captain Rohit Sharma admitted that he did not expect the Australians to get rolled over in a single session.
#2 83 all out, Melbourne (1981)
During the 3rd test of a three-match series Down Under in 1981, the Australians were embarrassed in front of their fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they were bundled out for a paltry score of 83.
Australia had a massive lead of 182 runs after the first innings and quite obviously, no one really gave India a chance at winning the game.
However, India's batters stood up to make some valuable contributions as the visitors put up an admirable fight to post a score of 324. Openers Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan scored half centuries and the great Dennis Lillee picked up 4 wickets.
Requiring 143 to win the game and the 2-0 series, Australia failed to turn up as they were dismissed for 83 runs, thus handing the Indians a 59-run win. Kapil Dev was the star with the ball as he returned figures of 5-28. Only three batters from the hosts' line-up managed to get into double digits, which went on to show that it was a poor and shameful day for Australian cricket.
#3 112 all out, Bangalore (2017)
A tragedy that would still be fresh in the minds of Australians, this one occurred in Bangalore during Australia's last visit to India in 2017. Australia had beaten India in the first test at Pune and looked good to take an unassailable lead during this test. After the first innings, they were ahead by 87 runs and eventually required just 188 runs to win the game.
The job was not going to be easy but Australia were expected to get the job done. Unfortunately, for their fans, Australia succumbed to a certain Ravichandran Ashwin who picked up a six-wicket haul to help India bowl out the visitors for 112 and level the series.
The Australians, apart from Steve Smith and Peter Handscomb, never looked comfortable against the Indian attack. This will surely rank as one of Australia's worst batting shows against India.