Given India was bundled for 150, umpires called for an early tea
The first game of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy is certainly not going in India’s favour after the team was bundled for 150. Debutant Nitish Reddy scored 41, the maximum for the tourists, whereas Rishabh Pant added a crucial 37 runs to ensure the team at least reached 150.
The lacklustre batting performance of the team in Perth has already turned the game into a meme fest. However, this isn’t the first time India has been bundled for 150 or below in the last 10 years in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Now, the question stands: Did India manage to secure a win in those games?
The most recent incident in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, when an Indian was bundled for 150 or below, happened in 2023. During the third Test of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in Indore, the first innings saw India getting bundled for 109 runs. The rest of the match didn’t work in India’s favour, and Australia won the game with nine wickets. However, India grabbed the series with a scoreline of 2-1.
No Indian fans wish to remember how horribly the episode in Adelaide unfolded in 2020. India scored its lowest-ever Test score against the Aussies, getting bundled for merely 36 runs in the second innings of that game. Josh Hazlewood grabbed five crucial wickets, whereas Pat Cummins took four. Australia won the game by eight wickets, but India won the series with a score of 2-1.
Even in 2018, India suffered a massive setback during the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in Melbourne. Having won the first Test but lost the second, the third Test was crucial for both sides.
India posted a mammoth 443 in the first game, and in response, Australia could only score 151 runs. However, in the second innings, India managed only 106 runs. Fortunately, the bowlers did well enough to restrict the Baggy Greens to 261, thus winning the game by 137 runs. The scoreline of this series was 2-1 in India’s favour.
INDIA LEAD SERIES 2-1!
— ICC (@ICC) December 30, 2018
With the wicket of Nathan Lyon, Ishant Sharma wraps Australia up for 261, powering his side to a convincing 137-run win at the MCG.#AUSvIND SCORECARD 👇https://t.co/XyVZQv8kRp pic.twitter.com/8o7GPf04yZ
In the first game of the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India was bundled for below 150 twice. Playing in Pune, India was reduced to 105 for 10 wickets in the first innings against Australia’s first innings of 260.
The second innings saw Australia scoring 285 runs, but once again, India was bundled for 107 runs. Australia scripted a convincing victory of 333 runs over India on Indian soil. Despite the loss, India won the series 2-1 against the Baggy Greens.
Australia inflict India's first loss at home since 2012, winning by 333 runs in Pune #IndvAus pic.twitter.com/xFZF6JzUF0
— ICC (@ICC) February 25, 2017
On all four occasions, despite getting bundled for 150 or less in at least one of the games, India bounced back to seal a series victory over Australia. In fact, the Men in Blue have won the last four Border-Gavaskar Trophys, both on Indian and Australian soil.
Therefore, even though India has succumbed in the first innings, one can never completely write off the Indian team. At the time of drafting this article, India already seems to be bouncing back, having picked four wickets before Australia could reach 35.
