India vs Australia Flashback: India's Disappointing Tour Of Australia In 1999

India toured Australian grounds for three test match series in 1999-00. Australia, under the leadership of Steve Waugh, dominated the Sachin Tendulkar led-side and won 3-0. 

India, coming into the series, didn't have a great record playing in foreign conditions. They had last won a test match in foreign conditions back in 1986. Sachin Tendulkar, still new to the captaincy, expected his team to do well on this tour. 

Australia, on the other hand, were climbing up to their peak. They had won the World Cup earlier that year and had beaten Pakistan 3-0 coming into the series. 

The Aussies were looking clear favorites against the Indian side. The cricket pundits gave no chance of India beating Australia in the test series. 

First test match(Adelaide), 10-14 Dec - It was a cloudy morning on the first day of the test match, but the pitch looked good for batting. Australian captain Steve Waugh chose to bat. The Indian bowlers, taking advantage of the early swing, took four Australian wickets inside the first session. However, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting took their time at the crease and stabilized the innings. Ponting's catch got dropped on 90. He went on to make 125 before getting run out. Waugh continued to bat till his 150; he got support from Shane Warne. Aussies got bowled out for 441.

Indians, in reply, started poorly at the top as they lost both their openers early in the innings. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman steadied the ship before Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly took over the charge. However, no Indian batsmen could score big as the team got all out for 285 runs. Australians took advantage of the healthy lead and scored 239 runs more before declaring the innings. Greg Blewett top scored with 88 runs. It seemed that the Indian batsmen took too much pressure of the 386 run target as they got bowled out for a mere 110. Australian captain Steve Waugh got awarded player of the match. 

Brief Score: Australia - 441 & 239/8D; India - 285 & 110 

Player of the match - Steve Waugh(150, 5)

 

Second test match(Melbourne), 26-30 Dec - It was another cloudy morning for the first day morning of the test match. Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling first to make the most of the overcast weather. After a delayed start due to rain, the Indians took two early wickets, and the Aussies were forced to play carefully and slow. The rain kept breaking the momentum of the bowlers as the Australian middle-order piled up runs on the board. Michael Slater top-scored with 91 and helped his team get to 405 in the first innings. All the Indian batsmen struggled to score runs except Sachin Tendulkar, who scored a century. Tendulkar kept running out of partners at the other end as the Indian team got all out for 238. Another healthy lead for Australia. Debutant Brett Lee took a five-wicket haul.

The Aussie batsmen quickly added 208 runs on the board and gave a target of 376 for India to chase. Tendulkar once again top-scored among the Indian batsmen with his 52 as the team got all out for 195. Australia won the match, but Sachin Tendulkar got awarded player of the match for his brilliant performance throughout the game. 

Brief Score: Australia - 405 & 208/5; India - 238 & 195 

Player of the match - Sachin Tendulkar(116, 52)

 

Third test match(Sydney), 2-4 Jan - The cloud cover reached Sydney along with the two teams as the start of the match once again got delayed. Sachin Tendulkar, despite overcast conditions, opted to bat first. Only 60 overs were bowled on the first day, but Indian batting collapsed to 126/9 before getting all out on 150. Glenn Mcgrath and Brett Lee took nine wickets combined. Australians, despite losing Michael Slater's wicket early in the innings, cruised the innings with ease. Justin Langer got support from Steve Waugh before getting into the partnership with Ricky Ponting. Langer scored a double ton while Ponting remained not out on 141 as Australia declared at 552/5.

VVS Laxman, opening the innings, played his shots with ease. No other batsman was able to score more than 25 runs, yet Laxman scored 167. It was an incredible innings but in a losing cause. Australia won the Border-Gavaskar trophy 3-0, as the cricket pundits suggested earlier, after bowling out India for 261. The Australian team displayed a dominating performance, yet, Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar got chosen as the player of the series. 

Brief Score: India - 150 & 261; Australia - 552/5 

Player of the match - Glenn Mcgrath(5/48, 5/55)