India's 5 Test match wins on Australian soil
Australia has not been a happy hunting ground for team India in Test cricket. Having toured Australia for the first time in the year 1947, Team India has failed to win a single Test series down under in 71 years.
Australia have beaten India in 8 out of the 11 Test series and the remaining 3 series ended in draws in Australia.
Out of 44 Test matches played down under, Team India has won just 5, lost 28 Tests and drawn 11. Team India has a golden opportunity to create history and beat Australia in the upcoming 4 match Test series.
Let us go down the memory lane and revisit team India's 5 Test wins on Australian soil:
#1 First Test victory on Australian soil- 1977/1978- Melbourne
India's 1977-1978 tour of Australia was indeed a memorable one. Having lost the first two Test matches at Brisbane and Perth narrowly by margins of 16 runs and 2 wickets respectively, Team India bounced back in an emphatic manner in the third Test at Melbourne.
Batting first, India had the worst of starts with both the openers getting out without opening their accounts. Mohinder Amarnath and Gundappa Viswanath both scored half-centuries and led India to a respectable total of 256 in the first innings.
Erapally Prasanna had the Australian batsmen in his spinning web and he picked up 6 wickets for 52 runs in 14.1 overs. Australia were bowled out of 213 and India had a lead of 43 runs in the first innings.
India's second innings saw a brilliant century from Sunil Gavaskar on a difficult batting wicket and riding on Gavaskar's century India scored 343 and Australia were set a target of 386 to win the Test.
Bedi and Chandrasekhar picked up all the 10 Australian wickets in the fourth innings and bowled out the Australians for just 164 runs.
Team India won its first ever Test on Australian soil after 11 Tests and 30 years.