How Border-Gavaskar Trophy became the biggest Test series in cricket

There was a time when India was not a strong Test side and Pakistan was its biggest rival. But over the years, as the Indian team became more dominant, the battle for Test cricket's supremacy was fought between them and the mighty Aussies. The high-intensity matches and controversies made the Border-Gavaskar Trophy the biggest Test series in world cricket, even bigger than the Ashes.

India and Australia will face each other in the four-match Test series beginning on Thursday (February 9) in Nagpur. India hold the trophy after defeating Australia in 2-1 in 2020-2021.

While India will be trying to retain the prestigious trophy at home after a historic Test series win in Australia, the Pat Cummins-led side would be looking to end an almost two-decade-long wait for a Test series win in India.  

The history of Border-Gavaskar Trophy: The series is named after two great cricketers, Australia's Allan Border and India's Sunil Gavaskar. The two captains were the first to reach 10,000 runs in Test cricket.

• In 15 series since its inception in 1996, India have won nine and Australia have won five, with the 2003-04 series finishing in a draw. India have won the past three series against Australia.
• Sachin Tendulkar has been the most successful batsman in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scoring 3,262 runs from 65 innings. India's Anil Kumble is the most successful bowler, taking 111 wickets in 20 matches at an average of 30.32.
• Before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India and Australia had played each other 50 times in Tests in a 49-year period from 1947 to 1996 and Australia was the first country India toured soon after their Independence.

• But the tours between the two countries were not fixed and sometimes the Test-playing nations will tour each other after 10-15 years. This led to the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy under ICC's future tours.

How it became so big? Australia, England, and West Indies were the powerhouses in Test cricket once. But with India's meteoric rise, the Test cricket landscape changed dramatically. Once seen as timid and defensive, the Indian side under Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and then Virat Kohli was completely different. They were aggressive and had a hunger for victories.

• And India were no more just a favourite at home. Now they were beating teams, including Australia, in their backyard. And the team was ready to fight back after getting hit hard. We saw this in 2020-21, when after getting bowled out for just 36, India made a stunning comeback to win the historic series in Australia.

• The series became so important also because Australia wanted to beat India in India in a Test series, which, until their victory in the 2004-05 series, they had not done so since 1969-70. The same goes for India and their desire to win a Test series in Australia. India had never managed to do it until the 2018-19 series, after which they continued their winning streak in the 2020-21 series, and retained the trophy for two editions outside the home.
• What makes the series even more competitive is the fact that in both 2000-01 and 2007-08, it was India who ended Australia's streak of 16 consecutive Test wins. The Test series in India in 2000-01, probably one of the best Test series ever, saw some of the best cricketing moments ever. India went on to win the Kolkata Test after being asked to follow on, and finally won one of the closest and hardest-fought series in the final session of the final Test at Chennai.