As India prepares to renew their rivalry with Australia in the challenging five-Test series, a first since 1991-92, and look to extend their dominance Down Under for a third consecutive time, a lot is at stake for both sides as the eventual outcome could potentially decide the fate of one or maybe both finalists, for next year’s ICC World Test Championship final with the two teams currently occupying the top two slots in the table.

Over the past decade or so, the India-Australia rivalry in Test cricket has reached a new high, ever since India’s change of guard during the 2014-15 tour Down Under when a young Virat Kohli was handed the reins of the longest format after Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from the longest format at the end of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

While Australia comfortably pocketed the four-Test series 2-0 by winning the first two matches in Adelaide and Brisbane, the Indians showed glimpses of what’s stored for their future tours with commendable performances, to draw the remaining games in Melbourne and Sydney.

Besides being bestowed with India’s captaincy duties, the series was special for Kohli after his twin centuries at Adelaide, and another in the new year’s Test in Sydney, that saw him ending up with 692 runs from the four games, only behind Steve Smith, who compiled a staggering 769 runs.

2016-17 Australia’s BGT drought continues in India

A 333-run drubbing at the hands of the visitors in the first Test at Pune served a perfect reality check for the Indians, who lost a Test at home after 19 matches in four years. Playing his first Test in India, Steven O’Keefe claimed 12 wickets across the two innings, giving Steve Smith a perfect start to his new role as Australia’s Test captain.

The hosts managed to pull one back in Bengaluru with KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara stitching crucial knocks, before a draw in Ranchi with Pujara’s marathon double century meant the series went down the wire to the fourth and final Test.

In the absence of skipper Kohli, India eventually clinched the series 2-1 under Ajinkya Rahane with an eight-wicket win in Dharamsala.

2018-19 India’s historic first series win in Australia

In the absence of the seasoned duo of Smith and David Warner, serving their bans following the ball-tampering saga, India took full advantage of Australia’s vulnerabilities by winning the first Test in Adelaide. And even though Australia seized a commanding win in Perth to square the series, India bounced back in the Boxing-Day Test in Melbourne before playing out a draw in Sydney to wrap-up a first-ever Test series triumph in Australia.

Pujara was adjudged the Player of the Series, for his tally of 521 runs from seven innings that included three centuries.

2020-21 India make it twice in a row

The memories of 36 all out in the first Test at Adelaide still haunt Indian cricket fans…and before India could recover from the trauma, skipper Virat Kohli had to leave the tour midway for the birth of his first child, and a host of injury woes rubbed salt to the injury. India, however, mounted an incredible comeback under the leadership of Rahane.

Auditioning for a berth in the Indian Test side, the youngsters — Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj — grabbed the opportunity with both hands, as India went on to clinch an eight-wicket victory in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, before drawing the new year’s Test in Sydney.

With the series squared 1-1, the series finale at the Gabba saw India breach Australia’s fortress by chasing down a mammoth 328 in the fourth innings on the final day to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

2023-24 Australia fail to lay hands on BGT once again in India

Following successive series losses to India, Australia reached the subcontinent as the underdogs, and the tag got even more meaningful after the losses in the opening two Tests in Nagpur and New Delhi. But just when India started harbouring dreams of a clean sweep, the Kangaroos retaliated with a stunning nine-wicket upset in Indore in a low-scoring affair.

A draw in the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad, where Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli all scored hundreds, means the Border-Gavaskar trophy stayed with India.

The outcome meant both teams progressed through to the 2023 World Test Championship Final in three months time at The Oval, where Australia handed India a 209-run drubbing to claim the title.

As all eyes now shift on the upcoming series, starting with the first game at the Optus Stadium in Perth from November 22, the overall outcome will have more implications than just a bilateral rivalry!