With the series all square at 1-1, India take on Australia in the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), a venue where the visitors have won just twice.
The last time India won here was almost 38 years ago but the victory came only after captain Sunil Gavaskar had walked off in a huff with his opening partner after losing his cool over an umpiring decision, going within 10 metres of forfeiting the Test!
Years later, the Little Master expressed regret over the Melbourne walkout. "I regret the decision. It was a big mistake on my part. As Indian captain, I was not supposed to act in that manner. In no way can I justify my act of defiance. Whether I was out or not, I should not have reacted that way," Gavaskar said during a tea-time chat show with Sanjay Manjrekar and Kapil Dev.
It was a duel with Dennis Lillee that led to the incident. Gavaskar had never scored a century against Lillee and was batting on 70 in the second innings of the match when the Aussie quick bowled a low off-cutter that rapped him on the pads. Umpire Rex Whitehead was quick to raise his finger. Unhappy with the decision, Gavaskar stood his ground and gestured with his bat implying he had edged the ball before it hit his pad.
Gavaskar had a tussle on the pitch with Lillee who pointed at his pads before the Mumbaikar started walking back to the pavilion. A few yards into his walk, he came back to take an unwilling Chetan Chauhan along with him, which would have resulted in the match being forfeited. But the team manager Wing Commander Shahid Durrani calmed the Indian skipper down and sent Chauhan back to the wicket to continue with the game.
"We were sure (that the ball hit the pads)," Lillee recalled, adding, "The only one who had a problem with it was Sunny who, until that day, had never scored runs against me."
Incidentally, Gavaskar also became Dennis Lillee's 248th dismissal which equalled Richie Benaud's Australian record. Chauhan was out next, making Lillee 'Australia's greatest ever bowler'.
Australia had won the toss and put India in to bat first, with Gundappa Vishwanath playing a lone hand, scoring 114 runs in India's total of 237. He was also adjudged 'Man of the Match' for his performance. Australia took a 182 run lead in the first innings courtesy a century from Allan Border and half-centuries from Australian captain Greg Chappell and Doug Walters.
India started off well in the second innings with a 165-run stand between Gavaskar and Chauhan before the walkout incident unfolded. India could only set a paltry target of 143 runs for Australia with almost four sessions to go. Without the services of a young Kapil Dev who was injured, India opened the bowling with Karsan Ghavri and Sandeep Patil and reduced Australia to 24/3 at stumps on Day 4. Skipper Greg Chappell was bowled by Ghavri for a golden duck, leaving the match on a knife edge.
Kapil returned next morning to script one of India's most famous wins Down Under. He picked up five wickets for 28 runs from 16.4 overs to help clinch a 59-run victory which tied the three-match series 1-1. It was India's first drawn series on a tour of Australia.
Three years earlier, India led by Bishan Bedi had won their first Test match on the ground during the 1977-78 tour by a thumping 222 runs. Electing to bat first, India were reduced to 0/2 with both openers Gavaskar and Chauhan departing for ducks. The middle order steadied the innings with valuable contributions from Mohinder Amarnath and Gundappa Vishwanath who scored 72 and 59 runs respectively to lead India to a respectable first innings total of 256.
Australia were bundled out for 213 in the first innings handing India a 43-run first innings lead. In the second innings, Gavaskar made a brilliant 118 off 285 deliveries and helped set a target of 386 runs for Australia to win the match. But the hosts were bundled out for 164.
The MCG is not known for aiding slow bowlers but the Indian spinners excelled in the match, with eighteen wickets being shared by legspinner BS Chandrasekhar and left-arm tweaker Bedi. Chandra picked up six wickets in each innings while Bedi had two in the first innings and four in the second.
The last time India played the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, the match ended in a draw. Both Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane got hundreds in the first innings as India managed to scored 465 runs in
reply to Australia's 530 runs courtesy a well-crafted hundred by Aussie skipper Steve Smith. Chasing 384 runs in the second innings, India finished with 174/6.
With Steve Smith and David Warner missing this year's fixture as they're serving a one-year ban for the ball-tampering saga earlier this year, Virat Kohli and company would look to script another memorable win to go 2-1 up in the series.