By IANS
New Delhi : India may have registered only two wins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which hosts its 100th Test with the first India-Australia Test Wednesday, but the 1980-81 victory will always inspire them.
Gundappa Viswanath scored a superb century, Chetan Chauhan made a fine 85 and Kapil Dev captured five wickets in the second innings to help India to a 59-run win that levelled the series 1-1.
This match is also famous for captain Sunil Gavaskar’s attempted walkout after being given leg before the wicket to a ball from fast bowler Dennis Lillee. He also tried to take the unbeaten batsman, Chetan Chauhan, to the dressing room, ac act that would have cost India the Test match as Gavaskar was apparently not keen to continue playing.
Luckily, with the intervention of level-headed team manager Shahid Durrani, Chauhan was sent back to the crease along with new batsmen and the match continued. And India went on to script a famous win.
In all, India have played nine Tests at the MCG, won two, lost six and drew one.
The following are the MCG statistics:
* CONSECUTIVE VICTORIES:
8 by Australia between December 26, 1999 & December 28,2006
7 by Australia between March 8, 1929 & March 3, 1937
* AUSTRALIA’S LAST EIGHT TEST TRIUMPHS IN SUCCESSION:
Month/Year Toss Opponents Result
Dec.1999 India India Australia won by 180 runs
Dec.2000 WI West Indies Australia won by 352 runs
Dec.2001 Aust. South Africa Australia won by 9 wickets
Dec.2002 Aust. England Australia won by 5 wickets
Dec.2003 Ind. India Australia won by 9 wickets
Dec.2004 Pak. Pakistan Australia won by 9 wickets
Dec.2005 Aust. South Africa Australia won by 184 runs
Dec.2006 Eng. England Australia won by an innings and 99 runs
* CONSECUTIVE DEFEATS:
7 by West Indies between Feb.13, 1931 and February 5,1976
* BIGGEST WINS:
An Innings & 225 runs – England beat Australia 1911-12
An Innings & 200 runs – Australia beat England 1936-37
* HIGHEST INNINGS TOTALS:
604 Australia vs. England 1936-37
600 Australia vs. England 1924-25
589 England vs. Australia 1911-12
Highest by India:
445 1985-86
* LOWEST INNINGS TOTALS:
36 South Africa vs. Australia 1931-32
45 South Africa vs. Australia 1931-32
61 England vs. Australia 1901-02
61 England vs. Australia 1903-04
67 India vs. Australia 1947-48
* HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL INNINGS:
307 Bob Cowper Australia vs. England 1965-66
270 Don Bradman Australia vs. England 1936-37
268 Graham Yallop Australia vs. Pakistan 1983-84
Highest for India: 195 Virender Sehwag 2003-04
* LEADING RUN-GETTERS:
Don Bradman: 1,671 (ave.128.54) in 11 Tests
Best for India:
Sachin Tendulkar: 267 (ave.44.50) in 3 Tests
* MOST CENTURIES:
Don Bradman: 9 in 11 Tests
Best for India:
Vinoo Mankad: 2 in 2 Tests
* BEST BOWLING IN AN INNINGS:
9/86 Sarfraz Nawaz Pakistan vs. Australia 1978-79
9/121 Arthur Mailey Australia vs. England 1920-21
Best for India: 6/52 (1st Ings.) B.S.Chandrasekhar 1977-78
6/52 (2nd Ings.) B.S.Chandrasekhar 1977-78
* BEST BOWLING IN A MATCH:
15/124 W.Rhodes England vs. Australia 1903-04
14/102 W.Bates England vs. Australia 1882-83
13/77 M.A.Noble Australia vs. England 1901-02
Best for India: 12/104 B.S.Chandrasekhar 1977-78
* LEADING WICKET-TAKERS:
Dennis Lillee – 82 (ave.21.93) in 14 Tests
Best for India:
Kapil Dev: 14 (ave.20.50) in 3 Tests
* HAT-TRICKS:
Bowler For Opponents Series
Frederick Spofforth Australia England 1878-79
Billy Bates England Australia 1882-83
Hugh Trumble Australia England 1901-02
Hugh Trumble Australia England 1903-04
Shane Warne Australia England 1994-95
* BEST PARTNERSHIPS:
346 (6th) Jack Fingleton & Don Bradman, Australia vs.
England in 1936-37.
Best for India:
165 (1st) Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan 1980-81
* BEST ALL-ROUND PERFORMANCE IN A TEST:
100 + 7/69 + 1/32 Jack Gregory Aust.vs.England 1920-21
Best for India:
49 + 4/87 + 4/92 Ravi Shastri 1985-86
116 + 4/135 + 0/74 Vinoo Mankad 1947-48
* MOST TESTS ON A SINGLE GROUND:
Ground First Test Tests
Lord’s, London July 21-23, 1884 114
Melbourne Cricket Ground March 15-19,1877 99
Sydney Cricket Ground Feb.17-21, 1882 95
The Oval, London Sept.6-8, 1880 90
* Statistics by Rajesh Kumar