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The Adelaide Oval stadium. (Image: X)
Eight defeats and a gully — that was India’s grounds successful Tests Down Under erstwhile they embarked connected different circuit of Australia successful precocious 1977.India had been touring Australia since independence, playing their archetypal Test determination successful November 1947, which they mislaid by an innings and 226 runs.
The visitors mislaid their archetypal bid Down Under 4-0 successful the five-match contest, with 1 gully successful Sydney.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!It took 20 years earlier India toured Australia again. The 1967/68 bid was a four-match affair, but the scoreline remained the aforesaid — 4-0 successful favour of the hosts.So, erstwhile India visited Australia a decennary aboriginal for the 1977/78 series, determination were astir nary expectations from the team.
It further became a atrocious work erstwhile the Bishan Singh Bedi-led broadside mislaid the archetypal 2 Tests successful Brisbane and Perth.
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India had present mislaid 10 retired of 11 Tests successful Australia without a azygous win. But determination were subtle hints of alteration successful the 2 defeats successful 1977 — some were adjacent losses. India mislaid the archetypal Test by 16 runs, and the 2nd by conscionable 2 wickets.The 3rd Test started connected December 30, 1977, and by the clip it ended connected January 4, 1978, India had registered their archetypal triumph Down Under — a monolithic 222-run triumph successful Melbourne.
It did not halt there; India stunned the hosts by an innings and 2 runs successful the 4th Test successful Sydney to level the bid 2-2.When the 2 teams came to Adelaide for the 5th and last Test, momentum was with the visitors and the bid was wide open.Here’s however the winner-takes-all Adelaide Test unfolded from January 28 to February 3, 1978:Australia skipper Bob Simpson won the flip and decided to bat first. The hosts dominated the opening time and finished astatine 353/5, with skipper Simpson starring from the beforehand with an unbeaten 54.
He went connected to people 100 arsenic Australia posted 505 each out. For India, B. Chandrasekhar took a fifer (5/136), portion Karsan Ghavri returned figures of 3/93.India replied powerfully and reached 131/3 astatine stumps connected Day 2, with Gundappa Viswanath connected 79 and Dilip Vengsarkar (26) astatine the crease. The 3rd time again belonged to Australia. Led by Ian Callen’s triple onslaught — Viswanath (89), Vengsarkar (44) and Anshuman Gaekwad (27) — the hosts dismissed India for 269.
Australia had a monolithic first-innings pb of 236.By the extremity of Day 3, Australia were 103/3 successful the 2nd innings — a pb of 339 with 3 days remaining.When the contention resumed connected February 1 aft a remainder day, India’s bowlers ran done the Aussie line-up. Ghavri (4/45) and Bedi (4/53) took 4 wickets each to vessel retired the hosts for 256 successful their 2nd innings. But by past India had to pursuit a monolithic people of 493.India mislaid openers Sunil Gavaskar (29) and Chetan Chauhan (32) connected the 4th time itself, leaving them astatine 101/2 with 2 days remaining.
Australia were successful full power arsenic they inactive led by 391 runs.India’s batters fired successful unison connected Day 5. Mohinder Amarnath (86), Viswanath (73) and Vengsarkar (78) — the No. 3-5 batters — scored classy half-centuries and took the squad to 362/6 astatine stumps connected the penultimate day. India survived the full day, adding 261 runs for the nonaccomplishment of conscionable 4 wickets and giving the hosts a large scare.On this time successful 1978 - February 3, the sixth time of the match, India needed 131 runs with 4 wickets successful hand.
Australia were connected top, but India were not wholly retired of the contest.The overnight pair, wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani and Ghavri, enactment connected a stunning 67-run basal for the seventh wicket to usher the visitors past the 400-run mark. India were 415/7 erstwhile Ghavri fell for 23, leaving them 78 runs abbreviated of the improbable target. India’s absorption began to slice erstwhile Kirmani departed soon aft for 51, leaving them struggling astatine 417/8.But the combat did not end, overmuch to Australia’s dismay, arsenic India skipper Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna delayed the inevitable with a 25-run basal for the ninth wicket. The last absorption ended erstwhile Bedi fell for 16. Three runs later, India mislaid their last wicket — Chandrasekhar — with the people speechmaking 445. It was the second-highest fourth-innings full successful Test past astatine the time. Australia clinched the bid 3-2, but lone aft a monolithic scare.From losing the archetypal 2 Tests, to winning their archetypal matches Down Under, and past warring till the extremity successful the decider, it was a blockbuster bid betwixt hosts Australia and visitors India — 1 that helped laic the instauration for the fiercely anticipated tours of today.
- Interesting fact: The 5th and last Test was played arsenic a six-day contention to debar mislaid clip successful the bid decider. With a remainder time included, the lucifer stretched crossed 7 days — from January 28 to February 3, 1978.
