Ind vs Aus: Australia's hits and misses in India

India and Australia are all set to resume their fascinating contest from Friday — a rivalry which is peppered with some of cricket’s greats. Before the series starts, Rajneesh Gupta sifts through all the players appearing in at least five Tests and making a real impact. Richie Benaud One of the best leg-spinners the game has ever seen, Richie Benaud left his mark in every Test he played on Indian soil. In eight Tests, Benaud took 52 wickets at an average of 18.38 with five five-fors and one ten-wicket match haul. On his very first appearance in India, Benaud returned the figures of 7/72, paving way for for Australia’s innings win. In the third Test at Kolkata, Benaud returned the match figures of 11/105, which were then the best in any Test match in Kolkata. Australia won the three match series by 2-0 and Benaud was the wrecker-in-chief with 23 wickets at an average of 16.87. [caption id=“attachment_631109” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  One of the best leg-spinners the game has ever seen, Richie Benaud left his mark in every Test he played on Indian soil. Getty Images[/caption]   Benaud came back to India in 1959-60. In the first Test at Delhi, Benaud achieved the unique figures of 3/0 as India recorded their lowest total (135) in a home Test against Australia. In the second innings Benaud took 5/76 as Australia completed a comprehensive innings win. India came back strongly in the second Test at Kanpur as Jasu Patel created havoc on a newly-laid turf-pitch, claiming nine wickets in the first innings and another five in the second. Benaud took 4/63 in the first innings, but managed only one in the second as India completed a comfortable 119 run win. Benaud struggled in the third Test at Brabourne that ended in a draw, but came back strongly in the fourth Test at Madras, claiming eight wickets in the match and taking Australia to another innings win. Australia played safe in the fifth and final Test and opted for a draw that gave them the series by 2-0. Benaud was again the most successful bowler with seven wickets in the match. Benaud’s 29 wickets in the series are the most by a visiting spinner in a series on Indian soil (England’s Derek Underwood later equalled his record). Matthew Hayden In 11 Tests on Indian soil, this bulky left-hander aggregated 1,027 runs at an average of 51.35 with two hundreds and five fifties. Hayden played three series in India – in 2001-01, 2004-05 and 2008-09. He was at his best in the 2000-01 series. In the first Test at Mumbai, Hayden made 119 and 28*, and played a significant role in Australia’s 10-wicket win. Hayden followed it up with innings of 97 and 67 at Kolkata, which India won in one of the most remarkable fashions after following on. In the series decider at Chennai, Hayden was again in the sublime form – occupying the crease for nearly eight hours, Hayden scored 203 which came off just 320 balls. His innings was studded with 15 boundaries and five monstrous sixes. Hayden was the last batsman to be dismissed after opening the innings. In the second innings Hayden contributed 35 off 40 balls. India registered a thrilling two-wicket win in the Test and thus won the series 2-1. Hayden ended the series with 549 runs at an average of 109.80. No other Australian could score even 250. Hayden’s aggregate of 549 runs in 2000-01 series is still the highest by any batsman in a three-match series on Indian soil. Neil Harvey Between 1956 and 1960 Harvey played eight Tests on Indian soil in which he aggregated 609 runs at an average of 55.36 with three tons. At Brabourne in October 1956, Harvey scored 140 in just over four hours. In 1959-60 Harvey top scored with 114 at Delhi, playing a significant role in Australia’s innings win. Jasu Patel ran through the Australian batting line-up in the next Test at Kanpur with figures of 14/124. Neil Harvey and Colin McDonald were the only visiting batsmen to put up some fight. Harvey then made 102 at Brabourne. His partnership of 207 with Norman O’Neil was then the highest for the third-wicket in India-Australia Tests. Allan Border In nine Tests he played in India, Allan Border aggregated 766 runs at an average of 51.07 with two hundreds and four fifties. More than his number of runs, the way he accumulated his runs gave Australia a psychological edge over India. Every time he came out to bat, Indians knew they need to pull something out of the hat to see him back in the pavilion. In his very first innings on Indian soil, Border scored 162 (at Madras in 1979-80). He followed it up with another gritty knock of 50 in the second innings. [caption id=“attachment_631132” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Warne wasn’t that good on Indian pitches. Getty Images[/caption] He scored useful half-centuries at Wankhede and Eden Gardens. Border made another visit to India in 1986-87 – this time as Australian captain. In the first Test at Madras, Border was one of the three Australian batsmen to score a hundred. He declared twice in the Test trying to fetch a result and almost paid for his courage as match ended in a thrilling tie. Alan Davidson Facing Alan Davidson - one of the most menacing new-ball bowlers – was always an uphill task for the Indians. More often than not, Indian batsmen had no idea how to counter Davidson’s left-arm pace. In six Tests Davidson played in India, he captured 30 wickets at a meager average of 15.77. At Kanpur in 1959-60 Davidson returned the match figures of 12/124 — still the best figures by an Australian bowler against India. Despite this, Davidson ended on the losing side, as Australian batting was demolished by the off-spin of Jasu Patel. In 1959-60 series, Davidson took 29 wickets at an average of 14.86 — statistically the best performance by an Australian bowler in a series in India. THE FLOPS IN INDIA Ricky Ponting No one has aggregated more runs and hundreds for Australia against India than Ricky Ponting. In 29 Tests he played against them, Ponting aggregated 2555 runs with eight centuries — keeping an average of 54.36. But in matches in India, Ponting managed only 662 runs in 25 innings at an average of 26.48. In his first three series on Indian soil, Ponting managed only 149 runs in 12 innings at an average of 12.41. He lost his wicket to a spinner on 11 occasions out of the 12 (five times to Harbhajan, thrice to Kumble, twice to Venkatapathy Raju and once to Ashish Kapoor). Only once could he go past 20 in these 12 innings. In his last two series in Indian Ponting managed to put some runs on the board, but still his performance in India was nowhere near what was expected of a player of his calibre. Shane Warne In his illustrious career, Warne took a wicket off every 58 balls conceding 25 runs, troubling best of the batsmen. But he failed to have any impact on Indian batsmen while playing in India. In nine Tests here, Warne managed 34 wickets at an average of 43.12 and strike-rate of 81.03. The leg-spinner started well by taking 4/85 the first time he bowled in an innings. But the Indians were soon in control of things as he went for more than 100 in next three consecutive innings (1/122, 0/147 and 3/106). Sachin Tendulkar is often credited with taking Warne to the task, but it was actually Navjot Sidhu who played a major role in taming Warne. As soon as Warne came on to bowl, Sidhu would jump out of the crease to clobber him to the boundary and over it. Sidhu never allowed Warne to settle down and this made things very easy for Tendulkar and other middle-order batsmen.