Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, what is its history, will Team India be able to win?
boxing day test in melbourne
Boxing Day Test India vs Australia: The India vs Australia series is now at a stage where its excitement is about to reach its peak. Although this will be the fourth match of the series, which will be played in Melbourne, but it seems as if the series has just started. That’s because even after three matches the series is still tied. What is Boxing Day in cricket? When did this tradition start and the most important thing is what has been the record of the Indian team so far in such tests. This is quite a special thing. So let us include all these points and give you complete information. Now there have been only four Indian captains under whose leadership Team India has won the Test match at MCG, the names of Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane are included in this list.
The competition will start on 26th December i.e. the day after Christmas.
After Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, the caravan of India vs Australia series has now reached Melbourne. This historic match will start from 26th December i.e. the day after Christmas. There is an atmosphere of holiday, excitement and enthusiasm in Australia at Christmas. Boxing Day is such a test in which cricket fans gather in large numbers to watch the match. Actually, the tradition of Boxing Day has been going on since the 1950s. But with time there were changes in it. For the first time, the Boxing Day Test started on 26 December during the prestigious Ashes series in 1974. This match was also played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The special thing is that this time all the tickets for the Boxing Day Test were sold out two weeks before the start of the match, from this the thrill of this match can be gauged. Gifts received on Christmas are opened on this day and it is a holiday, hence it is called Boxing Day Test. This has nothing to do with boxing.
Team India’s statistics in Boxing Day Test
Team India has played 9 Boxing Day Tests so far
Now if we talk about the Indian team, Team India has played 9 Boxing Day Tests so far. Out of these, Team India has managed to win only two matches. Only two matches have also ended in a draw. If we talk about defeat, Team India has lost five matches. This is not a special record. But there is nothing much to fear and panic, because the Indian team has not lost any Boxing Day Test since 2011. That means the figures for about 13 years are in favor of India. After 2011, India played the Boxing Day Test in 2014, which ended in a draw. After this, in the year 2018 and 2021, the Indian team was successful in winning the Boxing Day Test. These figures are a matter of relief for the Indian team.
Indian players who won the Best Player Award in Boxing Day Test
Crowds of fans gather on holidays
The special thing is that whenever there is a Boxing Day Test, Australia supporters come in large numbers. Due to which the opposite team definitely feels some pressure. When Team India last toured Australia, it had managed to perform brilliantly. This time too there is a long army of young players in the Indian team. Who knows not how to take pressure, but how to give it. Talking about the past, the great batsmen of Indian cricket like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have scored centuries in the Boxing Day Test. Not only this, Indian players like Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane and Jasprit Bumrah have also won the Player of the Match award in the Boxing Day Test. Another tradition in the Melbourne Test is that the player who wins the Man of the Match award receives the Mullagh Medal, named in honor of the indigenous Australian cricketer Johnny Mullagh.
Indian batsman who scored century in Boxing Day Test
Many new faces in India’s Test team since the Boxing Day Test
For the last few years, Team India’s Test team has been going through many changes. If we compare the playing eleven of the last Boxing Day Test, the changes are clearly visible. The biggest change is the absence of Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired in the Gabba Test in Brisbane. In the rest of the Indian team, there are many such players who, leave aside the Boxing Day Test, have come on the tour of Australia for the first time. In this, the name of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who will play as an opening batsman in Test in the year 2024, is at the forefront, who played a brilliant century in the first Test match played in Perth, but since then his bat has remained silent till now. Apart from this, Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has impressed everyone with his all-round performance on this tour so far. Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Harshit Rana have reached Australia for the first time.
These players will not be able to play Boxing Day Test, have played before
Kohli has a better record with the bat in MCG
The Boxing Day Test match is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia at the end of the year from 26th December. If we look at the list of players who have scored the most runs in Test cricket for India on this ground, Sachin Tendulkar’s name is at the forefront. Is visible. Sachin has scored 449 runs with the bat in 10 innings at MCG, in which his average is 44.9. If we look at Team India’s squad that will take the field this time, everyone will have high expectations from Virat Kohli, who has scored 316 runs at an average of 52.7 while batting in 6 innings at MCG and in that he has scored one century and 2 half-centuries. Have also played innings. In such a situation, this time also a good innings can be expected from Virat Kohli. If Virat scores good runs in this match, this test match will become even more special for the Indian fans.
Read also
