Whenever India and Australia face off at MA Chidambaram, something exciting is bound to happen. On Sunday night, India secured a memorable 6-wicket victory over Australia at this iconic venue, with KL Rahul and Virat Kohli emerging as heroes for India in a challenging situation.
There is history behind this. The iconic 1987 Test match ended in a tie. In the same year when India hosted the World Cup, Australia won a closely contested match by just one run. Imagine how agonizing it must have been for India. Those days are from a bygone era; India has heavily dominated Australia in all matches played at this ground since 1998.
1987 Test Match at MA Chidambaram Stadium
Dean Jones’ 210, the highest score by an Australian on Indian soil, came in the 1987 Test match, which is famous for many reasons. Alongside him, David Boon scored 122 runs, making it a challenging day for Indian bowlers. Allan Border added another 106 runs, and Australia posted 574/7 on the board in two days. Indian bowlers had to bowl 170 overs before the batsmen could come to the crease.
From India’s perspective, the match was far from over. During their batting innings, everyone played attacking cricket, especially Kapil Dev, who scored 119 off 138 balls, supported by valuable contributions from Chetan Sharma and Shivlal Yadav. India was bowled out for 397 in their pursuit of 574.
In their second innings, Australia quickly added 170 runs to their total in 49 overs, setting India a daunting target of 348 runs to win a historic Test match in Chennai. India began its chase supremely well, adding 250 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. At this point, the batsmen at the crease must have felt confident that 98 runs were very gettable with 6 wickets in hand.
Kohli-Rahul Duo Shine as India Crushes Australia at Chennai
However, the wickets of Kapil Dev and Chandrakant Pandit proved to be significant setbacks for India. Still, India was at 330/6 at one stage, only 18 runs away from a historic win. But Ray Bright had other plans; he dismissed 3 Indian batsmen in his second spell, leaving the home side in deep trouble.
Ravi Shastri contributed 48 off 40 balls, but the final day belonged to Ray Bright and Greg Matthews as much as it belonged to the Indian batsmen, who displayed remarkable intent in pursuing an insurmountable target. Maninder Singh was trapped LBW on the fifth ball of the 87th over. The match ended in a draw; one more run could have given India a historic win. Nonetheless, the 1987 Chennai Test remains a memorable match in the history of Test cricket.
India v Australia, Cricket World Cup 1987
Another memorable India v Australia match took place at MA Chidambaram Stadium in 1987 during the third match of the Cricket World Cup. Australia often prefers to bat first at this venue, and sometimes it has paid off, as it did in this case by the narrowest of margins. On a hot and sunny day, Australia batted first and posted 270 runs, which was a challenging target at the time.
Geoff Marsh batted brilliantly and scored 110 off 141 balls, supported by valuable contributions from David Boon and Dean Jones. It was a challenging pitch, but India had a fantastic start to their chase. By the end of the day, India were 205 for 2, needing only 65 runs to win with 10 wickets in hand.
What followed was a disastrous culmination and nothing short of a nightmare for the home side’s batting performance. Out of nowhere, Craig McDermott ran through the Indian batting order, picking up key wickets like Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Navjot Sidhu.
From 209/2 to 256/8, it was an unforgettable day for India for all the wrong reasons, as they fell one run short of the target. Maninder Singh was the last batsman to be dismissed by Steve Waugh, who was still playing as a bowling all-rounder for India. Australia went on to win the tournament by defeating England in the finals.
