NEW DELHI: It was perhaps apt that this Stadium had a Kotla in its name for such a long time. To put it loosely, 'Kotla' translates to fort. That what's the Arun Jaitley Stadium — formerly known as the Feroz Shah Kotla — is to the Indian team. It's like India's own answer to the Gabba in Brisbane. For, they don't tend to lose many Tests in the national capital. Since losing a Test to the West Indies in November 1987, they have played 12 matches, winning 10 and drawing two.
This record is very much part of India's cricketing folklore because of the identity of some of these 12 matches. Anil Kumble's 10/74 vs. Pakistan in 1999. The inaugural Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 1996. One of Pakistan's last-ever Tests on Indian soil in 2007. A marathon South Africa blockathon (AB de Villiers played one of the slowest innings on record) before India won with mere overs to spare after tea on the final day. So, it was a surprise to hear India coach Rahul Dravid say he didn't know about the record.
"I didn't know the record," he had said on Wednesday. "We don't see these things, you can't look back at history. You know that if you have to play well, you have to focus on the next 5 days of the Test match."
"Whatever happened in the past, it happened in the past. The opponents were different. We can't dwell on history so much. We can look at some of it, every team does it. We look at what time of the year the matches happened in Delhi, what were the scores and all that. We look into all these stats carefully," he had said.But if the past records are looked at carefully, they will suggest Delhi in fact has become India's happy hunting ground in the past three-and-a-half-decade.
To begin with, India were not as formidable at home as they are today till the 90s. In fact, until that last loss in Delhi, India's win/loss ratio was 0.823 at home as they had won only 28 and lost 34 matches in the period. As many as 76 games turned out to be drawn matches. A solitary match finished in a tie.
But since then, India have gradually transformed into a force to reckon with, especially in home conditions. They have played 130 matches thereafter winning 75 and losing 19 while 36 out of them were drawn games. Their win/loss ratio also jumped to 3.94 in that period.
These 19 lost matches were played out at different venues across the country but not in the national capital. And this unbeaten record in Delhi can make life difficult for Australia, who are eyeing a comeback.
As far as the team from Down Under is concerned, they had won only once at the venue out of seven matches they played here so far. What's more alarming is the fact that they last emerged winners here in 1959, their first outing at the venue. Apart from Aussies, only two Test-playing nations have won in Delhi (England thrice and West Indies twice).
In fact, Australia's last Test in Delhi in 2013 ended inside three days with the MS Dhoni-led team registering a 6-wicket victory. Spin twins R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked up 14 wickets between them as the hosts completed the clean sweep by thrashing the visitors 4-0.Given the fact that Ashwin, who ran through their batting line-up in the second innings of the first Test, is third highest wicket-taker in Delhi with 27 scalps from four matches, he can only add to the woes of Pat Cummins and Co.
The contest can potentially decide who will possess the glittering trophy, as a win can help India go 2-0 up in the four-match series and retain the crown by virtue of being holders (India are winners of the previous two editions).For Aussies to reverse the outcome, they have no other option than to breach the fortress, which they haven't managed to conquer for more than six decades.As far as India is concerned, the Stadium may have undergone an official name change, but they will look to keep the 'Kotla' — their 'Kotla' — intact.