The first test in Brisbane saw Bradman notch up 185 in the first innings and help Australia to 382. India were all out for 58, with Toshack picking up 5 wickets for 2 runs! India followed on and Toshack cleaned them out for 98 taking 6 wickets for 29 runs. Toshack's match figures were an amazing 11/31. India lost by an innings and 226 runs. The 2nd test at Sydney was drawn, but saw India put in a better bowling performance bowling out the Australians for 107. In the 3rd test India were swamped again, this time by 223 runs. The familiar tune of Bradman scoring a century in each innings and some bowler, in this case Johnson, picking up 8 wickets played again. Vinoo Mankad's century was the only saving grace. The 4th test at Adelaide gave Bradman his first double hundred of the series. Australia piled up 674 and bowled India out for 381 and 277. Victory by an innings and 16 runs. Vijay Hazare scored a hundred in each innings and still ended up on the losing side. Lindwall was the wrecker-in-chief taking 7-38 in the 2nd innings. The final test nailed India's coffin shut, with Australia winning by an innings and 177 runs. With Bradman retiring hurt on 57 Neil Harvey took over and scored 153. India put up a respectable 331 in the first innings, thanks mainly to another Mankad century. In the second innings India capitulated for 67, giving Australia a 4-0 win in the 5 test series.

Captains: DG Bradman (Aus) and L Amarnath

Australia 4 India 0.

India lost the opening test of the three test series at Chennai by an innings and 5 runs. The low scoring game was dominated by Benaud in the 1st innings who took 7/72 and Lindwall in the 2nd innings who had returns of 7/43. Johnson top-scored with 73. The 2nd test in Mumbai was drawn, with both sides coming up with solid batting performances. India won the toss and posted 251, bolstered by a century from GS Ramchand. Australia replied with a mammoth 523 for 7 declared. Harvey was among the runs again, scoring 140, to complement Burke's 161. Playing to save the match, Pankaj Roy and Mankad batted well, scoring big half centuries each. The match was drawn with India finishing at 250 for 5. In the 3rd test at Calcutta India won the toss and put Australia into bat. They must have thought they had made the right decision when they bowled out Australia for 177, with Ghulam Ahmed picking up a career best 7/49. The Australians fought back with Benaud taking 6/52 and bundling out India for 136. Australia then posted a competitive 189 leaving India with a target of 230 for victory. Benaud bamboozled the Indians once more and bowled them out for 136. Benaud finished the match with figures of 11/105. This ended another series where Australia outclassed India.

Captains: PR Umrigar (Ind), IW Johnson and RR Lindwall

Australia 2 India 0.

The 1st match of the 5 test series ended in an innings and 127 runs loss for India at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi. The Indians were dismissed for 135 by an allround bowling display by the Aussies. When the Indians took the field, they could not stop another Harvey century. Mackay came to the party as well and Australia put up 468. The Indian second innings was not substantially better than their first. Roy put up a good fight, but India did not get very far with eight batsmen not making it to double figures. The 2nd test match at Kanpur saw India levelling the series 1-1 in astonishing fashion. Off spinner Jasu Patel took 9/69 and 5/55 and stunned the Aussies into a 119 run loss. The 3rd test was drawn, with Contractor, Harvey and O'Neill all making hundreds. In the 4th test, Australia took a 2-1 lead in the series. Batting first the Aussies posted 342, thanks to a Favell century and bowled India out twice. Benaud was among the wickets again, with match figures of 8/86. The final test was drawn, giving Australia the series 2-1.

Captains: GS Ramchand (Ind), R Benaud (Aus)

Australia 2 India 1.

In the 1st match of the 3 test series, Australia comprehensively outbatted and outbowled India. McKenzie rattled the Indians, grabbing 10/91. Nadkarni's match pickings of 11/122 were in vain as India tumbled to a 139 run defeat. In Bombay India levelled the series, as Chandrsekhar bowled magnificently and captured 8 wickets. Pataudi batted with class to notch up half centuries in both innings. India won the match by 2 wickets. The 3rd test in Calcutta was drawn and India had tied the 3 match series at 1-1. No play was possible on the fourth and fifth days, ending the series on a damp note.

Captains: MAK Pataudi (Ind), RB Simpson (Aus)

Australia 1 India 1.

When India toured Australia in 1967-68, their chances of doing well were rated as good. The great Australian side under Richie Benaud had broken up with several retirements and the team was in the rebuilding process. However India lost all the four Tests. They were several reasons for this. In the first place, the team selected for the tour was not the best with players like SA Durrani, ML Jaisimha, S.Venkatraghavan, Hanumant Singh and BK Kunderan being omitted. Secondly the visitors were handicapped by the fact that skipper Pataudi was injured on the eve of the opening first class game and did not play till the second Test. In fact he played only three Tests on the tour. And third, ace spinner BS Chandrasekhar was injured and had to be flown home after the second Test. India lost the first game at Brisbane by 146 runs. Abid Ali, on his debut, took six for 55 to restrict Australia to 335. India, thanks to fine knocks by Engineer, Surti and Borde replied with 307. In the second innings, Australia got 369 and left India to get 398 for victory. They made a poor start but a gallant 75 by V Subramanyam saw India reach 251 before they were all out on the final morning. In the second Test at Melbourne Aussie spearhead Graham McKenzie wrecked the Indian batting to take seven wickets, though Pataudi stood firm with a fighting 75. India totalled only 173 and the Australians replied with 529 with Lawry, Simpson and Chappell getting hundreds. Prasanna, in the midst of his great tour, took six wickets. India, 356 runs in arrears, fought well in their second innings but an elegant 99 by Ajit Wadekar and another gallant innings of 85 by Pataudi could not prevent India from going down to defeat by an innings and four runs. For the third Test at Brisbane, Jaisimha had flown in as a replacement for Chandrasekhar and immediately made his presence felt. After Australia had led off with 379, thanks in the main to Doug Walters' 93, India replied with 279 with Jaisimha and Pataudi each getting 74. Prasanna with six wickets restricted Australia to 294 in their second innings. Chasing a tough victory target of 395, India remained in the hunt with Surti (64) and Pataudi (48) getting valuable contributions and then Jaisimha and Borde putting on 119 runs for the sixth wicket. But Borde's departure for 63 at 310 triggered off a collapse. However Jaisimha went on to get 101 before he was last out at 355. Australia completed a clean sweep by wrapping up the final Test at Sydney by 144 runs. The home team were restricted to 317 to which the Indians replied with 268 with Abid Ali top scoring with 78. The Australian second innings revolved around Bob Cowper's 165 before coming to an end at 292. Left to get 342 for victory, the Indians were off a rousing start with Abid Ali getting a bright 81 but Simpson caused a sharp collapse with his leg spinners, picking up five wickets and from 145 for two India slumped to 197 all out.

Captains: MAK Pataudi and CG Borde (Ind), RB Simpson and WM Lawry (Aus)

Australia 4 India 0.

When Australia toured India in 1969-70, Pataudi was firmly ensconced as captain of India and turned in several good performances, beginning with a 95 in the first test. However, he was the lone Indian contributor in the test match and India went down once again. Gleeson was the wrecker in chief for Australia, picking up 7 wickets in the match. The 2nd test at Kanpur turned into a high scoring tame draw and Australia went into the 3rd test with a 1-0 lead. India pulled one back at Delhi, beating the Australia by 7 wickets. Bedi and Prasanna combined brilliantly to show the world what a pair of world class spinners could do. They each had 9 wickets in the match. Mankad and Wadekar both made it to the nineties, but neither could cash in on good form and reach the 100 mark. In the 4th test Australia killed any hopes India might have harboured about series victory. Australia inflicted a crushing defeat on India, engineered first by a 6 wicket burst from McKenzie and then a 99 from Ian Chappell. The Australians went into the 5th and final test with a 2-1 lead. As if to confirm who dominated the series, the Australians won the final test by 77 runs. Mallett ended the series on a high note, picking up 5 wickets in each innings. A hundred from Walters set the stage for a final Australian assault. Yet another series had gone by with Australia stamping their superiority over India.

Captains: MAK Pataudi and WM Lawry (Aus)

Australia 3 India 1.

The 1st test at Brisbane saw India lose a close match by 16 runs, despite a fighting century by Gavaskar. Both India and Australia had low scoring first innings with the bowlers dominating. Bedi bowled effectively for India as did Clark and Thomson for Australia. Madan Lal's 5 wickets in the 2nd innings went in vain as Simpson made 89 and propelled Australia to a 16 run victory. The 2nd test in Perth saw Australia extend their lead to 2-0 with a 2 wicket win. Bedi was among the wickets again, picking up 10 in the game, but it was Simpson's 176 that tipped the scales in Australia's favour. Amarnath's contribution of 90 and 100, and Gavaskar's 127 were not enough to secure the game as nightwatchman Tony Mann scored an invaluable 2nd innings hundred and took Australia to victory. Chandrasekhar wove his web at Melbourne and routed the Aussies, capturing 6/52 in both innings! A 2nd innings century by Gavaskar set the stage for Chandra to attack the Aussies, and attack he did. Ripping through the Australians, Chandra took India to a mammoth 222 run win. Australia led the series 2-1. At Sydney India recorded an innings victory over Australia and levelled the series 2-2. An allround batting display by the Indians, with Viswanath, Ghavri, Vengsarkar all contributing saw India put up a sizable total. Chandra and Prasanna then applied the pressure and dismissed the Aussies twice to win the match by an innings and two runs. Autralia wrapped up the series 3-2 with a convincing win over India at Adelaide. The Aussies began with a solid batting display, putting up 505 on the board. Centuries from Simpson and Yallop made sure the Indians were batted out the game in the first innings itself. While the Indians did not collapse, they were never able to wrest the initiative from the Aussies.

Captains: RB Simpson (Aus), BS Bedi

Australia 3 India 2.

The first test in Madras was played on a batsman friendly flat wicket and dragged into a tame draw. The test served to give the batsmen some practice out in the middle. Border and Hughes notched up centuries. The second test at Bangalore was a replay of sorts of the first test. Viswanath slammed an unbeaten 161, and Yadav captured 7 wickets in the match as it fizzled out into a tame draw. The third test at Kanpur ended in a 153 run victory for India. Even though there were no spectacular individual performances from the Indian players, a solid team effort with Gavaskar and Chauhan scoring big fifties, set up a platform for a memorable victory. Yadav kept up the good form and was ably supported by the `Haryana Hurricane' Kapil Dev as the Indian bowling tightened the screws on Australia. India led the series 1-0. The fourth test in Delhi looked like an interesting one as Australia followed on after being dismissed for 298 in reply to India's 510. The Aussie batsmen got stuck in, scored 413 and the match was drawn. India went in to the 5th test with a 1-0 lead. At Calcutta another high scoring draw ensured that India went into the last test in a position where they could not lose the series any more. The final test at Bombay gave India it's most convincing win over the Australians yet. Batting first, the Indians posted 458, with Gavaskar making 123 and Kirmani remaining unbeaten on 101. In reply the Australians were bowled out for 160, thanks to the superb combination of Doshi and Yadav picking up 5 and 4 wickets respectively. Forced to follow on, the Australians were under pressure immediately, and succumbed for 198. Kapil Dev took 4 wickets, and Doshi chipped in with 3. This ended the series at 2-0, and India had secured their first ever series victory over the Australians.

Captains: SM Gavaskar (Ind), KJ Hughes (Aus)

India 2 Australia 0

In the first test at Sydney, Lillee and Pascoe wiped out the Indian batting for 201 in the first innings with Sandeep Patil's 65 being the top score. Australia responded with a huge total of 406 with skipper Greg Chappell making it all look easy with 204. Kapil and Ghavri took 5 wickets each. India were then shot out for 201 again with Lillee and Higgs taking 7 wickets between them leaving Australia winners by an innings and 4 runs. The 2nd test at Adelaide was a draw with both teams making good first innings scores. Kim Hughes made 213 and Sandeep Patil scored 174. Australia notched up 221 in the 2nd innings leaving India over 300 runs to win. India were in shambles at 135/8 when the test ended. In the 3rd test at Melbourne, Vishwanath's 114 was mainly responsible for India reaching 237. It was now Border's turn to make runs, and he did so with 124 runs helping Australia get to 419. India's 2nd innings began promisingly with the openers Gavaskar and Chauhan putting on 165 before Gavaskar was adjudged lbw to Lillee. He felt he had nicked the ball and protested. He even led his unwilling partner off the field, ready to concede the innings. Sanity then prevailed. Gavaskar apologized later. It was a poor display of sportsmanship, especially from a captain and a respected batsman. This event was later overshadowed by an injured Kapil Dev's heroic performance with the ball as he took 5/28 bowling out Australia for 83 with India winning by 59 runs.

Captains: GS Chappell (Aus), SM Gavaskar (Ind)

India 1 Australia 1.

Boon, Ritchie and Gavaskar made centuries as both teams made huge scores in the first innings at Adelaide. Kapil took 8 wickets in the Australian innings. In the next test at Melbourne, Matthews' unbeaten century helped Australia get to 262. India responded strongly with contributions from most of the batsmen and ended up with 445. Border's 163 helped Australia recover from 126/5 to 308 all out leaving India a little over 100 to win. Unexpected rain resulted in the Indian innings being interrupted at 59/2. The test was drawn. The 3rd test at Sydney was a high scoring affair with India making 600/4 declared. Srikkanth reached his first test century, Gavaskar scored 172 and Amarnath made 138. Australia responded with 396 but lost their last 5 wickets for 27 runs and followed on. In the 2nd innings, Australia were 119/6 when the test ended.

Captains: AR Border (Aus), N Kapil Dev (Ind)

India 0 Australia 0.

The first test at Madras was played in hot sultry conditions. Australia made 574/7 decl. with Jones making a heroic 210. The conditions were so bad that Jones vomitted on the field, dehydration resulted and he was taken to the hospital after his innings. India's response was 397 made mainly thanks to a superb 119 by skipper Kapil Dev. Greg Matthews took 5/103, preparing the stage for his exploits later in the match. Border declared Australia's 2nd innings closed at 170/5 leaving India 348 to get in a day. Gavaskar and the other top order batsmen did an excellent job in carrying on the fight to the Australian bowling. At 200/3, victory looked in sight but Matthews and Ray Bright gave the Australians hope with some quick wickets. India needed 4 runs to win in the last over with last man Maninder in. Greg Matthews was the bowler, Shastri took 2 off the 2nd ball and a single off the 3rd to leave the scores level and Maninder with the task of scoring 1 run to give India a wonderful win. Greg Matthews trapped Maninder lbw for 0 to get his 10th wicket of the match and produce the 2nd tie in test match history. The 2nd test at Delhi was disrupted by rain with no play for the first 3 days. The 3rd test was a high scoring one. Australia made 345 with Geoff Marsh making a century. India replied with 517 with centuries from Gavaskar, Vengsarkar and Shastri. The test ended with Australia on 216/2.

Captains: N Kapil Dev (Ind), AR Border (Aus)

Australia 0 India 0 Tie 1.

The first two tests at Brisbane and Melbourne were disasters for India as the batting crumbled against excellent bowling by Craig McDermott and Bruce Reid, the margins of defeat being 10 and 8 wickets respectively. On a slow track at Sydney, India went in with Shastri as the lone spinner and the test was drawn. Sachin Tendulkar, aged 19, made his first impression on the Australians with a brilliant 148 and Shastri scored his first test double hundred. The test also saw the debut of one Shane Keith Warne who took 1-150. The fourth test at Adelaide was the most evenly matched test of the series. Both teams made low first innings scores. Australia made a huge 451 in their 2nd innings thanks to Taylor and Boon. India's chase was valiant but in vain, the runs coming mainly through a superb century by skipper Azharuddin as India lost by 38 runs. The umpiring bothered the Indians, especially in the 4th test. Michael Whitney's excellent bowling overshadowed a brilliant hundred by Tendulkar on a typically bouncy Perth wicket. Centuries by Boon, Jones and Moody resulted in Australia winning by a huge margin of 300 runs.

Captains: AR Border (Aus), M Azharuddin

Australia 4 India 0.

An Australian team minus an injured Shane Warne took on India minus an injured Srinath in a one off test at New Delhi. The Indian spinners were led by Kumble who took 9 wickets in the match and dismissed the Australians cheaply in both innings. Nayan Mongia, who was the opening batsman, made a wonderful 152 as India piled on the agony. Only Steve Waugh scored some runs in the 2nd innings. India knocked off the runs after some early scares, including a duck for Tendulkar in his first test as captain.

Captains: SR Tendulkar (Ind), MA Taylor (Aus)

India 1 Australia 0.

Australia came to India in early 1998 as the best test team in the world. Shane Warne's battle with Sachin Tendulkar was billed as the clash of the titans. One of them came out on top, in great style. The test at Chennai was a classic as fortunes fluctuated through the first 2 innings of the match. Sachin Tendulkar sealed the issue with a magnificient 155. Australia lost by 179 runs. Anil Kumble got 8 wickets in the match. The Calcutta test was even more onesided. On a seaming first day wicket Srinath and Ganguly's opening bursts left Australia reeling. They recovered to 233 thanks to Steve Waugh. India responded with 633/5 with all top 6 batsmen making fifties. Azharuddin's 163* confirmed his love affair with Eden Gardens. Kumble got 8 wickets in the test. Australia were all out for 181 losing the test by an innings and 219 runs. Australia salvaged their reputation at Bangalore. India made 424, Tendulkar continued to be the scourge of the Australians with 177. Australia responded strongly with 400 thanks to Mark Waugh's brilliant 153. Kasprowicz ran through the Indian batting as India were all out for 169. Australia made the runs easily with Taylor's century being his only decent score of the series. While Tendulkar was undoubtedly the star of the series, there were valuable contributions from the others, especially Sidhu who launched into Warne and the other spinners with great effect. Kumble ended up with 23 wickets in the series.

Captains: M Azharuddin (Ind), MA Taylor (Aus)

India 2 Australia 1.