Why are India so good against Australia in Test cricketIt's not just about the pitches

By Rajarshi GuptaForget pitches. Forget raging turners. Forget what the Australian media whined about for the last one month. India have not just been outstanding against Australia at home, they have also dominated the Aussies in their own backyard in recent years. And that is not a fact to be trifled with.

Historically, Australia has been a strong side with exaggerated notions of machismo. Mental disintegration of opponents seemed to be as much a part of strategy as bowling, batting and fielding. It was (and still is) impossible to beat Australia in their land. It was a fortress so well guarded that winning in Australia was only a distant dream, especially for Asian teams.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was first played in 1996. The inaugural edition was a one-off Test, a far cry from the four-match series that have now come to headline these fierce contests. It wasn’t before 2001 that the rivalry reached its zenith. Australia were on a record winning spree and crushed India in the Mumbai Test before VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid orchestrated one of the greatest fightbacks in the history of the game. India won the series with a thrilling triumph in Chennai and with that ended the fear factor the Aussies carried with them.

Yes, India lost a home series to Australia in 2004 but before that, they had also drawn a series in Australia. Yes, India lost a series in Australia in 2007-08 but they showed their zeal to not back down in the most testing conditions against the most ruthless opposition. Yes, India were blanked 0-4 in Australia in 2011-12 but they avenged that with a 4-0 whitewash over the Aussies in 2013. Yes, Australia won 2-0 in 2014-15 but not without a stern fight from the Indians and a proper scare chasing a massive total in Adelaide. That was as much Virat Kohli’s series as Steve Smith’s.

The next series in 2016-17 marked the start of India’s stunning domination. In 2016-17, Australia started off with a huge victory in Pune before India won in Bengaluru, drew in Ranchi and then won again in Dharamsala to seal the series.

On the Australian tour of 2018-19, India knew they had their best chance to outclass the hosts, who were without Steve Smith and David Warner. Virat Kohli led with panache as India completed a 2-1 series victory.

Two years later, India were handed a heavy-duty tharshing in Adelaide before Ajinkya Rahane stepped in for Virat Kohli and oversaw one of the most remarkable come-from-behind series wins recorded in history.

The 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy was often times overshadowed by controversy over the pitches used but India were clearly the better of the two teams. The Nagpur surface was actually a good Asian Test wicket as Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja showed with the bat. It was a comeback game for Jadeja who had an equally good time with the ball. Steve Smith conceded an hour of madness cost Australia in Delhi while the extreme nature of the pitch in Indore hurt India. After a 9-wicket defeat, Rohit Sharma said India were playing to their strengths but Ahmedabad offered a flat, lifeless pitch and the final Test ended in a tame draw.

There was such furor over the pitches in the latest edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, that you would forgive a casual observer for thinking India rely only on tailormade surfaces to beat Australia. Far from it.

Under Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli, India had adopted a simple mantra”Let pitches go to hell.” And that thought process paid off for India were able to defeat South Africa on a dangerous pitch in Johannesburg in 2018 and win matches in England at The Oval and Lord’s. Give them what you will, India were always prepared. India eventually had to be content with a drawn series in England and they even lost a series in South Africa after taking a 1-0 lead, but their triumphs in Australia will be etched in cricketing folklore forever.

India not just beat Australia; they beat them in their traditional strongholds from 2018 to 2021. In 2018-19, India won in Adelaide and Melbourne and a couple of years later, after winning another Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, they shocked the hosts in Brisbane, where Australia had not lost a Test match since 1988.

The notion, therefore, that India relied only on spinning pitches and not other skillsets to get the better of Australia is outlandish. And this notion was spread maliciously by sections of the Australian press while a few former cricketers fumed at the alacrity with which India prepared pitches for the recent Test series.

Rohit Sharma himself was a little misplaced when he hinted that such rough tracks have been India’s biggest ally.

India, over the years, have just become much better with mindgames. Australia have been found wanting, at least against India. There was tension in 2017 when Steve Smith sought the help of the Aussie dressing-room for over a DRS referral and Virat Kohli lost his cool. The then India captain fumed at the post-match press conference fumed at the Australians. That sure spiced up the series which India went on to win. India went to Australia while two of their biggest stars were serving suspensions for their roles in SandpaperGate but if you thought the Aussies had become tame in their absence, you are wrong. Stand-in captain Tim Paine was chirpy behind the stumps until Virat Kohli had had enough and gave him some of his own medicine back. It wasn’t long before Rishabh Pant joined the party with taunts of ‘temporary captain’ for Paine.

The 2020-21 series was less acrimonious but the Indian team wasn’t pleased with the hostile Covid protocols in Brisbane and crowd behavior at the one of Australia’s most iconic Test venues. To top that all, the Australian media (including former cricketers) were busy writing the Indians off and they had to applaud the spirit of the visitors after that famous win at the Gabba.

India relish these mindgames and they know Australia do not like paybacks. Moreover, Australia have shown they wilt under pressure more quickly. A lot of Indian players firmly believe once they have pushed the Aussies to a corner, they find it nearly impossible to bounce back. India, though, are excellent with fightbacks. Remember Kolkata 2001, Adelaide 2003 and Brisbane 2021. These were iconic victories, hard-fought triumphs and Australia had the upper hand. And all those defeats cost Australia dearly. Had Australia won in Kolkata, they could have taken the series. In Adelaide, India were 85 for 4 in response to Australia’s first innings 556 but the hosts launched a stunning counteroffensive courtesy of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. The Bribane victory a little over two years back gave India their second successive series victory in Australia.

India’s batsmen may not be as good against spin as their predecessors but some of these guys are gutsy and they can hurt world-class bowling attacks overseas. Cheteshwar Pujara was outstanding in Australia in 2018-19, Rishabh Pant played some of the most memorable knocks two years later, Ajinkya Rahane scored a fantastic hundred in Melbourne and Virat Kohli has played some crucial knocks in a lot of India’s wins away from home.

While India have been blessed with generations of outstanding batsmen, it is the bowling that has made the real difference. Australia were almost always clueless against India’s spinners here but they bullied visiting teams because their batsmen could quickly override visiting pacers. That changed with the Indian team of 2018-19.

Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and later Mohammed Siraj intimidated Australia on Australian pitches. The Indian pace attack was relentless in its approach. Bouncers. Fast. Furious. They were unstoppable. The grin on Virat Kohli’s face was not easy to miss as India’s premier fast bowlers dished it out as good as their batsmen got. In 2020-21, India were without Shami after the first Test while Bumrah was ruled out of the final Test. But India still had Siraj in their ranks – it was only his first series but he bowled his heart out to bring Australia down.

And don’t forget Ravi Shastri’s presence in those Indian dressing-rooms. He had the reputation of a fantastic man manager and even without Kohli for the last three Tests of the 2020-21 BGT, India were spectacular and fought for every run and wicket thanks in no small measures to Shastri’s pep talks and some sharp strategizing by his team management.

Pitches are just one aspect of the game. Cricket, like any other sport, is more than just natural conditions. India have mastered the art of Test cricket over Australia – how long that lasts is for time to tell, but to just credit India’s stunning run against the Aussies to helpful pitches is slighting the majestic efforts of men who have left everything on the field over the last 8 years.