Two countries, India and Australia, have produced some of the best batting talents in the game of cricket: Adam Gilchrist, Steve Smith, and Michael Clarke from Australia and the men in blue have the trio – of Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have been brilliant against their times’ Australian sides.
Among bowlers, Indian bowling legends like Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble have been effective against the Aussie batters, and the fiery Australian pacers Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, and Brett Lee have done well against the Indian side whenever the teams clashed.
We now put our focus on the individual heroics of the players, who contributed to some of the most crucial wins between the two sides, which in turn made us witness some memorable matches.
CHECK: IND VS AUS – HEAD TO HEAD STATS IN ODI
Most Runs for India against Australia in ODIs
| Player | Innings | Runs | Average | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | 70 | 3077 | 44.59 | 9 |
| Rohit Sharma | 45 | 2379 | 58.02 | 8 |
| Virat Kohli | 47 | 2367 | 53.79 | 8 |
| MS Dhoni | 48 | 1660 | 44.86 | 2 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 29 | 1265 | 45.18 | 4 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 41 | 990 | 28.28 | 0 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 37 | 981 | 27.25 | 2 |
| Rahul Dravid | 36 | 928 | 25.77 | 0 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 25 | 840 | 36.52 | 0 |
| Kris Srikkanth | 28 | 789 | 29.22 | 1 |
Master blaster is showing his class here again. There is a reason why everyone refers to him as the “God of Cricket.” The second person on the list is close to 800 runs behind the guy topping the list.
Two modern-day greats, Hitman Sharma and Virat Kohli are among the only players with a 50+ average.
Most Runs for Australia against India in ODIs
| Player | Innings | Runs | Average | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky Ponting | 59 | 2164 | 40.07 | 6 |
| Adam Gilchrist | 45 | 1622 | 36.86 | 1 |
| Aaron Finch | 31 | 1460 | 48.67 | 4 |
| Mathew Hayden | 28 | 1450 | 53.70 | 3 |
| Steve Smith | 25 | 1310 | 52.40 | 5 |
| David Warner | 26 | 1222 | 48.88 | 3 |
| David Boon | 29 | 1212 | 46.62 | 2 |
| Steve Waugh | 45 | 1117 | 29.39 | 0 |
| Allan Border | 35 | 1104 | 42.46 | 1 |
| Michael Bevan | 31 | 1081 | 49.13 | 1 |
Kind of a similar trend to that of what India’s highest run scorers have had. Two players have an astonishing average of above 50. Unlike India, the players haven’t relied on scoring many hundreds to have a higher number of runs; instead, they have focussed on hitting fifties and contributing well enough as a team.
Highest Individual Scores in India vs Australia ODIs
| Player | Runs (Balls) | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 209 (158) | Bengaluru | 2 Nov 2013 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 175 (141) | Hyderabad | 5 Nov 2009 |
| George Bailey (AUS) | 156 (114) | Nagpur | 30 Oct 2013 |
| Steve Smith (AUS) | 149 (135) | Perth | 12 Jan 2016 |
| Shikhar Dhawan (IND) | 143 (115) | Mohali | 10 Mar 2019 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 140* (121) | Johannesburg | 23 Mar 2003 |
| MS Dhoni (IND) | 139* (121) | Mohali | 19 Oct 2013 |
| Yuvraj Singh (IND) | 139 (122) | Sydney | 22 Jan 2004 |
| Mark Waugh (AUS) | 133* (138) | Pune | 28 Mar 2001 |
| Shaun Marsh (AUS) | 131 (123) | Adelaide | 15 Jan 2019 |
Rohit Sharma cutting the following list twice shows his caliber and habit of consistently scoring daddy hundreds. Coincidently two of the scores below are from the same match, the one held in Perth during the 2016 series. Wherein two modern-day greats, Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma, ed hands together to give a thrilling game for fans to about.
Most Wickets for Australia vs India in ODIs
| Player | Innings | Wickets | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Lee | 30 | 55 | 21.00 |
| Mitchell Johnson | 26 | 43 | 26.06 |
| Steve Waugh | 37 | 43 | 29.47 |
| Adam Zampa | 23 | 35 | 33.51 |
| Glenn McGrath | 24 | 34 | 26.76 |
| Mitchell Starc | 19 | 30 | 32.66 |
| Craig McDermott | 22 | 30 | 27.46 |
| Damien Fleming | 20 | 28 | 29.57 |
| Pat Cummins | 21 | 28 | 35.60 |
| Nathan Bracken | 17 | 27 | 25.66 |
As stated at the very start of this article, we have some legendary Australian bowlers taking up the best of places in the following list with their scintillating bowling averages. They have picked a good amount of wickets in significantly fewer matches. But somehow, that thing isn’t replicated in the list to follow, though it is always awe-inspiring to possess an average below 30.
Most Wickets for India vs Australia in ODIs
| Player | Innings | Wickets | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kapil Dev | 39 | 45 | 27.68 |
| Mohammed Shami | 23 | 38 | 31.60 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 41 | 37 | 53.64 |
| Ajit Agarkar | 21 | 36 | 28.41 |
| Javagal Srinath | 29 | 33 | 36.78 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 34 | 32 | 46.43 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 22 | 31 | 38.32 |
| Anil Kumble | 29 | 31 | 40.29 |
| Irfan Pathan | 24 | 31 | 35.96 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 21 | 30 | 34.13 |
The following stats might have indicated the main reason behind the sheer dominance of Australia in the overall matches they have played against India.
Sadly, none of the Indian bowlers could have a significant impact, not even similar to what the top 5 Australian bowlers had on India. Kapil Dev is the pick of the bowlers.
Best Bowling Figures in India vs Australia ODIs
| Player | Best Bowling | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murali Kartik (IND) | 6/27 | Mumbai | 17 Oct 2007 |
| Kenneth MacLeay (AUS) | 6/39 | Nottingham | 13 Jun 1983 |
| Ajit Agarkar (IND) | 6/42 | Melbourne | 9 Jan 2004 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal (IND) | 6/42 | Melbourne | 18 Jan 2019 |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 6/43 | Melbourne | 18 Jan 2015 |
| Greg Chappell (AUS) | 5/15 | Sydney | 8 Jan 1981 |
| Ravi Shastri (IND) | 5/15 | Perth | 8 Dec 1991 |
| Mitchell Johnson (AUS) | 5/26 | Vadodara | 11 Oct 2007 |
| Brett Lee (AUS) | 5/27 | Adelaide | 26 Jan 2000 |
| Terry Alderman (AUS) | 5/32 | Christchurch | 3 Mar 1990 |
A good coincidence is what we witness here. Here two of the best spells bowled by against each other have been all about but almost identical. Yuzi and Ajit, both Indian players, have had their personal best bowling figures, and that too against Australia; the fun thing to note is that – even the venue where they too had played was the same.
