India vs Australia in ODIs: How the Men in Blue have fared on Australian soil

Mitchell Starc and Virat Kohli [Source: @CricFit/X.com]

Shubman Gill is all set to take on Australia in the upcoming AUS vs IND ODI and T20I series. As the new captain at the helm will be guiding the seniors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma Down Under, the buzz gets even hotter.

India's ODI records are interesting against the Men in Yellow. While there have been dominant performances from Indian batters like Kohli and Rohit, most of them have been in a losing cause. ODIs are not India's piece of cake against Australia, especially in Australia. Let's take a look at how the Men in Blue fared in ODIs against the hosts on their soil.

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Head-to-head on Australian soil

India played 54 ODI matches in Australia, and sadly, they managed to bag only 14 wins out of them. Australia won 38 matches, while two ended in a no result. Hence, the success rate of India against Australia in Australia stands at only 25.9%.

Fiercest ODI clashes of India in Australia in the 2000s

1) VB Series 2003/04

The VB series, played between India, Australia and Zimbabwe in Australia 21 years back, was an intense battle between the greats. Three teams played 8 matches against each other only for Australia to win the final match against India by a massive margin of 208 runs.

Adam Gilchrist, VVS Laxman and Matthew Hayden were the top run scorers in the series, while Irfan Pathan was the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets in his bag from 8 matches.

2) Commonwealth Bank Series 2008

The Commonwealth Bank series in 2008 saw India, Australia and Sri Lanka participate in a tri-nation series, which also saw 8 matches amongst the three. India and Australia were the finalists, and this time, the former managed to take the trophy. Praveen Kumar (4/46) was the wrecker-in-chief for India, who was a pivot in defending a sub-par target of 259 runs against Australia.

Gautam Gambhir was the highest run-scorer of the series with his 440 runs at an average of 55.00 from 10 matches. Sachin Tendulkar seconded him with his 399. Meanwhile, Australia's Nathan Bracken was the highest wicket-taker of the series with his 21 wickets.

3) India tour of Australia 2018/19

India visited Australia with then-skipper Virat Kohli back in 2018, where they played a three-match ODI series and emerged victorious by 2-1. After the first two matches resulted in a tie, the third match. The nail-biting final match of the series saw India seal the win by 7 wickets with 4 balls remaining as MS Dhoni chased 231 runs with his unbeaten 87.

MS Dhoni, however, was the second-highest run getter of the series with 193 runs. Shaun Marsh topped with his 224 runs at an average of 74.66. Amidst the bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the highest wicket-taker with 8 wickets.

All ODI series results of India in Australia in the 2000s

How did India perform in the upcoming ODI series venues?

Here's a statistical look at India's performance in ODIs against Australia in the venues that will be the host for the upcoming tri-match ODI series.

Adelaide Oval

Sydney Cricket Ground

Optus Stadium, Perth

So far, India hasn't played any matches against Australia at the Optus Stadium, which was built and completed in 2018. This will be the first time the two teams will be facing each other at this venue.

With the ODI tour due in just three days, the Indian team have already landed in Australia to notch up their warm-up game and be ready to fire directly on the pitch on the morning of October 19.

Bottom line: The heavy stone on India's chest

To be fair, from the above stats, it is clear that Australia has always been the dominant force against India everywhere and even on their home soil too. In recent times, India showed flashes of hope with some nervy series-clinching wins, however, with the heavy stone of defeat on their chest, Shubman Gill & Co. need to up the ante to return to the country with pride.

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