With a win each for both teams, India and Australia will be eying to win the fourth Test in Melbourne and take the lead in the five-match series. It’s not just a Boxing Day Test but a chance for both teams to take the first step towards the WTC final. The iconic Melbourne Cricket Stadium hosts the fourth Test match, starting on December 26th. After being rescued by rain in the third game in Brisbane, the Indian team need some encouragement. Their recent record in MCG, though, should give them immense confidence.
India have played 14 Test matches at MCG, winning four, losing eight, and setting two for draws. These numbers don’t offer anything positive to India’s mindset going into the Boxing Test but they remain unbeaten in their last three Tests against Australia at MCG. And, that’s enough to make the upcoming clash an exciting contest.
India’s record at MCG in Tests
Matches: 14
Won: 4
Lost: 8
Draw: 2
India’s last Test at MCG was the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. Before entering the Boxing Day Test, the Virat Kohli-led Indian side had witnessed their lowest-ever Test innings total of 36 in the series opener in Adelaide and lost the game by 8 wickets. Before the Melbourne Test, captain Kohli flew back to India for the birth of his first child and Ajinkya Rahane stepped in to lead the team.
Rahane led by example, notching his second career Test century at MCG. He led India to a dominant win to level the series. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin also contributed to India’s win by bowling out the hosts to 195 and 200 across two innings. Before Rahane’s heroics during the 2020-21 tour, India had produced a memorable win at MCG during the 2018-19 tour. The 90,000-seater venue hosted the third game of the four-match series and both India and Australia entered the game with one win each in the first two games.
India declared their first innings on 443 for 7 after a brilliant hundred from in-form Cheteshwar Pujara and fifties from Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Mayank Agarwal. Then Bumrah, playing in his first Test match at MCG, took 6 wickets for 33- his best figures against Australia, to bowl out the hosts to 151, giving India a dominant 292-run lead going into the second innings.
India declared their second innings at 106 for 8, setting Australia a 399-run target just before lunch on Day 4. Bumrah stepped up again by taking three wickets, helping India bundled out Australia for 261 in the last session of Day 5 at MCG. The win gave the travelling side an assailable 2-1 lead, and the last match in Sydney resulted in a draw, producing India’s historic first-ever Test series triumph in Australia.
During the 2014-25 tour, MS Dhoni-led India managed to draw the Melbourne Test but it resulted in a series loss for India. Australia won the first two matches to take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series and entered the third game at MCG knowing a draw would be enough to retain the BGT silverware. Steve Smith’s 192 helped Australia post a big total of 530 while batting first and India replied by scoring 465 in their first innings with Kohli and Rahane hitting big tons.
India had less than two days to avoid a series loss but the bowlers had no answers to Australia’s in-form batting attack. Australia declared their second innings to 318 for 9 and set a 384-run target for India on the first session of Day 5. India lost their first three wickets for 19 but managed to avoid a defeat after Virat Kohli’s fifty and 48 from Rahane. The game ended in a draw but the hosts secured the series win and went on to draw the last match in Sydney as well.
India’s last defeat at MCG in Tests
It was the infamous BGT 2011-12 tour when India last suffered a Test defeat at MCG. India, led by new captain MS Dhoni, witnessed an annihilation by Michael Clarke’s Australian side and returned back with a 4-0 defeat. It started in the first match of the series at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
After opting to bat first, Australia were bowled out to 333 in their first innings, with Zaheer Khan taking four wickets, giving India an open invitation to take control of the game and a potential lead in the series. India had Test stalwarts Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, rising Virat Kohli, and settled captain MS Dhoni to reply with a bat.
Indian fans were cheering at the end of Day 2’s play as they finished at 214 for 3 with Sehwag, Dravid, and Tendulkar hitting fifties each. But on Day 3, Australia made a sensational comeback to stumble India to a total of 282 and take a healthy 51-run lead.
Zaheer rose to the occasion again by picking three wickets and Umesh Yadav contributed with four for himself to bowl out Australia to just 240 in their second innings. But once again Indian batters failed to chase down a 292-run target despite having over five sessions to bat and were bowled out to 169, suffering a huge 122-run defeat in the series opener. India couldn’t recover from the Melbourne loss and lost the next three games by big margins.
