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Follow UsThe Adelaide Oval brings bittersweet memories for the Indian team. They have played here on all six occasions they have toured Down Under for Test cricket in the 21st century. They have won two, lost three, and drawn once. This is the joint number of Tests India has won and lost at a venue in Australia since 2000.
But beyond the result, India have seen some glorious highs and miserable lows here. Some careers have ended and some new heroes have born. It has been a happy hunting venue for a few while some others have simply not cracked the formula of playing red-ball cricket in Adelaide.
With India, 1-0 ahead in the series, all set to add a new chapter to their Adelaide folklore, we look back at their history at one of the most picturesque venues in Australia.
2003/04 - won by 4 wickets
India’s first tryst with Adelaide in the 21st century resulted in one of their most memorable victories overseas. It was a special win for a number of reasons.
Firstly, India won their first Test Down Under in 22 years and washed off the scars of a 0-3 whitewash in the 1999/00 season, also going 1-0 up for the first time in a Test series in Australia. But more than that, it was how India came from behind.
The visitors were 85/4 in response to Australia’s first innings score of 556. When it looked like another pasting on the cards, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman provided a deja vu of their Eden Gardens heroics only a couple of years back. In Kolkata on March 14, it was 376, while in Adelaide on December 14, they forged a 303-run stand, lifting India from 85/4 to 388 before Laxman was dismissed for 148.
Dravid carried on to post 233, still the only double hundred by an Indian batter in Adelaide. Ajit Agarkar then surprised the Aussies with his career-best of 6/41, only the second five-wicket haul by an Indian in Adelaide and the visitors were set a gettable target of 230. Dravid backed up his double ton with an unbeaten 72 to put India 1-0 up.
Given the enormity of that win, the image of Dravid kissing the crest on his cap after the match-winning square cut is etched in the memory of every Indian cricket fan. It was fitting that he had Agarkar at the other end, whose six-wicket haul enabled India to push for a win.
The win broke the shackles for India in Australia. Before this Adelaide victory, they had won only three of their 29 Tests Down Under. They have now won six in 23 Tests.
2007/08 - drawn
India’s only draw in Adelaide was an uneventful match in a highly eventful series. After the events of Sydney and Perth, India needed to win the fourth Test to level the series 1-1. However, the flat conditions in Adelaide diminished the chances of a result once both teams batted out over 330 overs combined in their first innings.
For India, Sachin Tendulkar (153) and Virender Sehwag (151) scored hundreds, but neither side pushed for a win. India lost the series 1-2 but finished with their heads high courtesy of a resounding win in Perth.
2011/12 - lost by 298 runs
The most one-sided affair in an Adelaide Test between the two sides this century. India were 0-3 down and a whitewash was imminent. Continuing the trend in the series, India were nowhere in the contest once Australia declared for 604/7 batting first. Both Michael Clarke (221) and Ricky Ponting (210) scored double hundreds.
India were bowled out for 272 and then 201 while chasing 500. The venerated trio of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman failed for the nth time in the series, averaging only 26.5 as a batting troika.
Dravid and Laxman had built their legacy on their exploits against Australia including an Adelaide classic two tours ago. This time, Adelaide was the stage for the final Tests of their career. Both batters announced retirement after returning home.
The mood in Indian cricket was glum then, but there was still a silver lining. It was the dawn of Virat Kohli, who scored his maiden Test ton amidst the sinking ship on the Adelaide shores. Only 22 years old, he showcased that he belonged to this level, and his 116 in the first innings kicked off his love affair with Adelaide.
2014/15 - lost by 48 runs
Adelaide 2012 gave Kohli a sense of belonging to Test cricket. Adelaide 2014 provided him with the first opportunity to lead his country in whites. And although India lost and Kohli was only a stand-in captain, the Test match gave a peek into India’s Test future under Kohli.
Chasing 364 on the final day, he single-handedly put the Aussies under pressure by initiating India’s charge towards a win with his blistering 145. India fell short by 48 runs but were happy to accept a defeat in the hunt for a victory, and made it quite probable too at one point. It brought up the 'new India' which wasn't just going to hold on to draws.
Kohli had also racked up 115 in the first innings, thus notching up twin hundreds on his captaincy debut and taking his hundred count at Adelaide Oval to three.
It was also an emotional Test match - the first after Phillip Hughes’ demise. David Warner, Steve Smith and Michael Clarke celebrated their hundreds over the Test Cap number '408' tribute (Hughes’ Test cap number) at the ground.
Hughes was also named Australia’s 13th player for the Test match, thus marking his final appearance on the team sheet.
2018/19 - won by 31 runs
India were back on the winning track in Adelaide in quite a humdinger. Chasing 323 for a win, Australia seemed nowhere in the contest at 156/6. The lower order then made the Indian contingent nervous, adding some vital runs. The last pair of Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood batted for over 10 overs, inching Australia closer. But Ravichandran Ashwin found a timely edge which sealed a 1-0 lead for India in a close win.
Hazlewood had his head down. Lyon was consoling him. Ashwin was pumping his fists in the air as Kohli roared (like he does time and again).
It was the first Test win for India on Australian soil in over 10 years. It was also the first time Australia were beaten at home by an Asian side. The previous occasion was also against India in Perth (2008).
Moreover, the victory set the tone for the whole series. It was the first Test win in Australia for the entire batch, and they turned it into the first series win Down Under for the nation. Cheteshwar Pujara, the only centurion of the match with scores of 123 and 71, batted over 11 hours in the match. Across the whole series, he was a thorn in the Aussies’ flesh, scoring 521 runs (three hundreds) and tiring the opposition out batting for over 30 hours — equivalent of more than a day.
Ashwin took six key wickets in the match, which started a process of restoring his bowling numbers in Australia. Jasprit Bumrah’s match figures read 6/115, and he became the joint-highest wicket-taker in the series.
2020/21 - lost by 8 wickets
The one game that shouldn’t be spoken of. India were comfortably ahead in the Test before calamity struck. Leading by 53 runs in the first innings, the tourists finished Day 2 at 9/1. But the worst was yet to come. THE WORST!!
India were bowled out for 36 — their lowest Test total. Even in the worst of collapses, you would see one partnership that provides some semblance to the innings. That partnership never came as it took Australia only 16 overs on Day 3 to bundle the opposition. The match suddenly ended in two and a half days. The hosts bowled brilliantly but Indian batters kept edging the ball to the wicketkeeper and in the cordon.
In a similar vein to Adelaide 2018, the 2020 visit also set the series up, this time aggravating the Indian team to come back from behind and register their second consecutive win Down Under. This despite losing their captain Virat Kohli and one or two star players every Test to be cut down to their second-grade team by the final Test. However, the 36 all-out remains to be one of the most shocking sessions of play for this team.
Returning to the venue for their seventh visit this century for another day-night Test, India would want to wash off those scars with a win that would take them 2-0 up in this five-match series.
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