India vs. Australia: Rahane Beats Kohli, Ganguly, Tendulkar To Set Special Test Record Down Under

Ajinkya Rahane, who was awarded the Player of the Match for scoring a century, scripted history as Team India defeated Australia by eight wickets in the second Test in Melbourne on Tuesday.

With the win in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), India went level 1-1 in the four-match Border Gavaskar series.

Rahane, who is leading the Indian team in the absence of Virat Kohli, became the first Indian skipper to win the Test Down Under after scoring a century in the game. He was the only fifth Indian captain to record a hundred while leading in a Test in Australia after Kohli, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, and Sachin Tendulkar.

Only Kohli has scored multiple centuries in Tests as captain in Australia (4), while the others did it one time. Azharuddin scored 106 off 162 at the Adelaide Oval in 1992, but his hundred had come in a losing cause. Even Tendulkar, who scored 116 off 191 at MCG ended on the losing side in 1999. During the 2003-04 tour, when Ganguly scored 196-ball 144 at the Gabba, Brisbane, it was the first instance of an Indian captain scoring a century in a Test Down Under and not losing the game.

Meanwhile, out of Kohli’s four centuries in Australia as captain, only one helped India draw the match – Sydney, 2015, while the other three were in losing causes.

India bowled out Australia for 200 Tuesday before the touring party chased down the target of 71 in 15.5 overs. It was India’s fourth Test win at the MCG, making the iconic stadium their most successful away venue in the longest format.

Before the second Test of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar series, India were leveled with South Africa and Pakistan with three Test wins each at the MCG. Following the eight-wicket victory, India became only the second team to have won four or more Tests at the Melbourne Stadium after England that have won 20 Tests so far at the MCG.

India and Australia have a break for a few days before they lock horns in the third Test, which is scheduled to begin on Jan. 7, 2021.