Cricket-India retains Border-Gavaskar Trophy by Defeating Australia in 2020-21 Test Series

India won against Australia by 2-1 in 2020-21 Test Series and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21 edition. Ajinkya Rahane led the Indian Team in the absence of Virat Kohli who played only the First Test Match. India created history by defeating Australia for the 1st time at the Gabba, Brisbane in 32 years.

• The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a Test Series played between India & Australia since 1996-97.
• The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was already with the Indian Team as it had won the series held in India in 2016-17 &  its Maiden series win in Australia in 2018-19.
• Pat Cummins was adjudged as the Player of the Series for picking up 21 wickets in the series.

i.The Test Series is part of India’s Tour of Australia 2020-21 consisting of 3 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), 3 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) & 4 Test Matches which took place from November 2020-January 2021.

ii.Australia won the ODI series by 2-1 & India had won the T20I series by 2-1.

Records & Highlights:

Ajinkya Rahane becomes 1st Recipient of Mullagh Medal at MCG:

India’s Stand-in Captain Ajinkya Rahane became the 1st Recipient of Mullagh Medal after he won Man of the Match at the Boxing Day Test held at MCG.

• Mullagh is the name of former Australian Cricket Team Captain  Johnny Mullagh, He was the 1st cricketer who captained the 1868 Aboriginal Cricket Tour of England.
• Cricket Australia had earlier announced that the Player of the match of the Boxing Day Test will be awarded the Mullagh Medal.
• Boxing Day Test is a Test Match held annually at the MCG, Australia  on 26th December. It involves the Australian Cricket Team and the Touring Team.

Ashwin beats record set by Muttiah Muralitharan:

Ravichandran Ashwin set a new World Record for dismissing the most number of Left-handed batsmen in Tests: 192

• With this, he surpassed Muttiah Muralitharan’s World record of dismissing 191 left-handers in Tests.

Claire Polosak becomes 1st Woman to officiate an Men’s Test Match:

Australia’s Claire Polosak  became the 1st Female Match Official in a Men’s Test Match.

• She took up the role of Fourth Umpire during the 3rd Test match held between India & Australia at SCG.
• The Fourth Umpire is usually appointed by the Home Cricket Board from their nominees to the International Panel of ICC (International Cricket Council) Umpires.

Mayank Agarwal became 3rd Fastest Indian to score 1000 runs in Tests:

Mayank Agarwal became the 3rd Fastest Indian Player to score 1000 runs in Tests, he has achieved the landmark in 19 innings.

• Vinod Kambli is the Fastest Indian Player to get 1000 runs, he achieved it in 14 innings, Cheteshwar Pujara is the 2nd Fastest having achieved it in 18 innings.

Cheteshwar Pujara becomes 11th Indian to cross 6000 Runs in Test Cricket:

Cheteshwar Pujara became the 11th Indian to cross 6000 runs in Test Cricket. The other Indians are Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Gundappa Viswanath.

Jadeja becomes 3rd player to play at least 50 games in all 3 formats:

Ravindra Jadeja became only the 3rd Player to play at least 50 games for India in all 3 formats of Cricket. The other 2 players are MS Dhoni & Virat Kohli.

Natarajan becomes 1st Indian to make International Debut in 3 formats in same tour:

Natarajan became the 1st Indian Cricketer to make International Debut across all 3 formats of the Game during the same tour.

Summary of the Series:

The Test Series is part of the World Test Championships.

i.The Australian Cricket Team won the 1st Test Match (Day/Night Test)  by 8 wickets held at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide.

• India recorded its lowest ever total & Fourth lowest overall : 36 in its second innings.

ii.The Indian Team bounced back with a 8-Wicket Win in the 2nd Test Match held at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne.

iii.The Third Test Match held at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney ended in a draw.

iv.India won the Fourth Test Match by 3 wickets, held at The Gabba, Brisbane.

• It was Australia’s First Defeat at the Gabba in 32 years.

India rises to Top of World Test Championship standings:

India’s series win in Australia has propelled it to top of the ICC World Test Championship Standings.

• India sits at the top with 430 Points, followed by New Zealand & Australia.

World Test Championship Standings (as of January 19, 2021):

Rankings:

New Zealand become World No.1 Test Team for the 1st Time:

After their 2-0 Victory over Pakistan, New Zealand became the World No.1 Test Team for the First time in history.

Men’s Test Team Rankings (as of January 19, 2021): 

i.Top 3  of Men’s Test Ranking for Batsmen (as of January 19, 2021) #1 – Kane Williamson (New Zealand), #2 – Steve Smith (Australia), #3 – Marnus Labuschagne (Australia), #4 – Virat Kohli

ii.Top 3  of Men’s Test Ranking for Bowlers (as of January 19, 2021) #1 – Pat Cummins (Australia), #2 – Stuart Broad (England), #3 – Neil Wagner (New Zealand)

KL Rahul retains 3rd spot in ICC T20I Batting Rankings:

In the latest Rankings released by ICC for T20I Battings on January 19, 2021

•   KL Rahul retained his 3rd Position
•   Virat Kohli climbed to 7th Spot

They are the only 2 Indians to feature in the Top-10 list of players rankings in all 3 categories – Batsman, Bowlers & all-rounders.

About ICC:
Chairman – Greg Barclay (New Zealand)
Headquarters – Dubai, UAE