The fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. India won the first Test and Australia won the second Test, while the third Test was a draw. So the series is tied at 1-1. If Team India wins either of the last 2 Tests, they will retain the trophy. Because India won the last series in 2023.
Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most runs for India at the MCG, while Virat Kohli tops the list of active batsmen. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah is the Indian bowler who has taken the most wickets on this ground. Notably, India have won their last two Tests in Melbourne. In 2018, the team won by 137 runs and in 2020 by 8 wickets.
Led by Virat Kohli, India won in Melbourne in 2018.
India's record at the Melbourne ground in the story…
Most runs in Virat's name in the current team Virat Kohli has the most runs in the current team in Melbourne. He scored a century here in 2014 and drew the Test. Kohli then scored 169 runs in the first innings and 54 runs in the second innings. He was also instrumental in the 137-run win against the Kangaroos in 2018. In that match he scored 82 runs while playing the captaincy innings. Virat has scored 316 runs in 3 Tests on this ground.
Rishabh Pant has scored 101 runs in 2 Tests here. Captain Rohit Sharma, batsman KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have played only 1-1 Test at this ground so far. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has scored 66 runs and taken 8 wickets in 2 Tests. Yashaswi Jaiswal will play his first international match at this ground.
Bumrah on top among bowlers In the current Indian team, Jasprit Bumrah has taken 15 wickets in just 2 Tests. He is also the highest wicket-taker in the series. After that Mohammad Siraj took 5 wickets while playing Test at MCG. Nitish Reddy and Akash Deep will play Test here for the first time.
Sachin Tendulkar overall top scorer India played its first match in 1948 against Australia in Melbourne. Since then, Sachin Tendulkar is the top Indian run scorer. He has 449 runs in 5 Tests. Ajinkya Rahane has 2 centuries here, he scored 147 runs in 2014 and 112 runs in 2020. However, this time he is not part of the team. After that, Virat has scored centuries in 3 Tests here.
Bumrah will overtake Kumble as soon as he takes one wicket Jasprit Bumrah and Anil Kumble are number one among the bowlers who have taken the most wickets in Melbourne. Both have 15 wickets each. Bumrah will overtake Kumble as he takes 1 wicket in Tests starting 26th December. In 2018, he also won the player of the match award for taking 9 wickets.
India have not lost in Melbourne for 10 years Team India has not lost in Melbourne since 2014. Since then, India have played 3 Tests at this ground, winning 2 and drawing one. Before 2014, India had to face defeat in 2 matches. MS Dhoni retired from Tests only after the MCG Test was drawn in 2014. After that, India won under Virat Kohli in 2018 and Ajinkya Rahane in 2020. Now the challenge is for Rohit Sharma to take this legacy forward.
Australia ahead in overall record India's first win in Melbourne came in 1977, when the team beat the Kangaroos by 222 runs. The ground was also won by the team in 1981, after which it took 37 years for a team to win a Test here, a total of 14 Tests have been played between the two teams at this ground, with India winning 4, while Australia won 8. Only 2 Tests were drawn during this period.
Why is the match played on 26th December called Boxing Day Test? The term 'Boxing-Day Test' in cricket originated from Australia's domestic match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1892. The Test played on December 26 in Australia and Africa is called the Boxing Day Test. In such a situation, it would seem that Boxing Day would have something to do with boxing, but it does not.
In fact, the day after Christmas (December 25) is called Boxing Day in many countries. The gift boxes received during the festival on 25th December are opened the next day on 26th December. That is why this day is called Boxing Day. Australia, New Zealand and African countries have more tradition of celebrating it. Different places in the world have different theories.
Theory-1: What is a Christmas Box? On the day after Christmas, people give each other Christmas boxes. Boxing Day is the first day of the week after the Christmas holiday. Earlier on this day many people would go to work and their boss would give them a Christmas box. It is believed that that is why this day was named as Boxing Day.
Theory-2: On Christmas the box is kept in the church There is another theory related to Boxing Day. It is said that a box is kept in the church during Christmas. In these boxes people keep gifts for the poor and needy. On the day after Christmas, those boxes are opened and the donated goods are distributed among the poor and needy.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
