A mouth-watering clash awaits fans at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday when the Men in Blue take on the World Cup juggernauts. India and Australia have locked horns 12 times across all editions of the tournament, with the latter having won eight games. Both teams would hope to start their campaigns on a positive note as they script another chapter in the annals of a long-standing rivalry.
In 1983, the two teams met for the first time at Trent Bridge, where Trevor Chappell showcased his talent and helped Australia hand India a drubbing. A few days later, Roger Binny and Madan Lal starred for India and the Indians defeated one of the favourites of the tournament by a considerable margin of 118 runs.
Chennai had previously played host to Australia in a nail-biting encounter in the 1987 World Cup, the first time an ODI was held at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium ever. Geoff Marsh piled up a ton to help Australia post a competitive total. In reply, K. Srikkanth and Navjot Sidhu gave the opposition a run for its money.
However, as India was tantalisingly close to victory, the middle order succumbed to Craig McDermott, as the host lost by a single run. However, in the second game at Feroz Shah Kotla, India beat the eventual champion.
When the World Cup was played Down Under, India played the hosts at the Gabba. Australia batted first with Dean Jones leading the show. Rain interrupted the game early into India’s innings, robbing of three overs. Despite Mohammad Azharuddin’s best efforts, the side fell short of the revised target by one run again.
The next clash between the two sides took place at the Wankhede in 1996. Mark Waugh, who opened for his team, set the stage with a splendid century. Local lads Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar tried to make the most of familiar conditions, but Australia emerged the winner as India was unsuccessful in a chase yet another time. The side met with a similar fate when it took on Australia in London in 1999.
Fond memories for Aussies
Though the 2003 World Cup will bring back fond memories for the Aussies, Indian fans would not be too keen on revisiting them. Indian batters put up an abysmal show in the group stage, stringing together a paltry 125 runs.
In the final, Harbhajan Singh was the only bowler who was able to pick up wickets, and except for Virender Sehwag, no batter was able to cross the 50-run mark. Ricky Ponting’s rampage at Johannesburg furthered the Australian era of dominance even while breaking a billion hearts.
When Australia elected to bat first in the second quarterfinal of the 2011 World Cup at Ahmedabad, it seemed that history was set to repeat itself. After all, the Indians had never chased down a target set by the Australians in the tournament. Could they beat the odds at least this time around?
Ponting played a captain’s knock and scored another hundred to help the team post 260 on the board. Tendulkar and Gambhir registered half-centuries, but the Aussies kept picking up wickets regularly. It was Yuvraj Singh, with Suresh Raina at the other end, who took the game away from the opposition with a fantastic fifty of his own. Eight years after a crushing defeat to a stellar campaign, India returned the favour and put an end to Australia’s winning streak.
The defending champion would have fancied its chances when it met Australia in the semifinals of the next World Cup. The hosts chose to bat first at Sydney in 2015, a ground the eventual Man-of-the-Match, Steve Smith was partial to. Along with Aaron Finch, Smith stitched a 182-run partnership as Australia set a mammoth target of 328.
As if defending totals against India was an axiom and the previous game had just been a glitch in the matrix, the Aussies thrashed Dhoni’s men for a thumping 95-run victory.
Fortune favoured India as the team began its campaign on a winning note against Australia in the next edition in 2019. Shikhar Dhawan, in his brief stint as an opening batter, took the attack to the opposition.
However, it has been over four years since that clash in London. Times have changed, and so have the teams. As the two teams gear up for their first match on Sunday, they would be more concerned with recent results. Having played two bilateral ODI series in India in 2023, it can be argued that Australia would be one of the more confident visitors in the 13th edition of this tournament.
Chennai has been a lucky venue for Australia in World Cups — it has won all the three matches it played here. Even when the team toured India earlier this year, it was at Chepauk where they sealed the deal, beating the home team 2-1. On the other hand, the Detroit of India has been a neutral venue for the hosts.
After the loss to Australia in 1987, India has played only one game in the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, and went on to win that match against the West Indies by 80 runs. Historically, out of the 22 matches that led to a result, only eight teams that batted second won an ODI at Chepauk. At a pitch known to aid spinners, both the captains will be eager to win the toss and be in a position to call the shots.
India, as the top-ranked team in the world, will look to replicate its performance against the Aussies from the recently concluded bilateral series which the Men in Blue clinched 2-1. Australia has had a good run in recent ICC tournaments, claiming the T20I World Cup title in 2021 and the World Test Championship against India just a few months ago.
Cut to the present, the rivalry between these two teams will be kept alive tomorrow. As the clock ticks and the match draws closer, Indian fans will be decked up in their jerseys and face paint, waiting to cheer their team on in the most-awaited tournament of the year.
