India-Australia rivalry has always seen the rise of cricketing legends. As the Border-Gavaskar is now half way through and fans have already witnessed some terrific knocks in this series, we bring to you the top five batsmen of both the teams who have scored heaps of runs in the bilateral Test series that have been played between the two cricketing giants.
INDIA’S TOP 5 BATSMEN AGAINST AUSTRALIA
SACHIN TENDULKAR: Sachin Tendulkar is in elite league along with the likes of JacK Hobbs and David Gower as he has scored more than 3000 runs against Australia. Tendulkar has been very much consistent against the Aussies and his swashbuckling ton at pacy wicket of WACA saw the emergence of Master-Blaster as one of the Greatest Player of this game.
VVS LAXMAN: Very Very Special Knock came from the bat of VVS when India was down and out in 2001,Kolkata Test. His marathon innings lasted for about six and a half hours in which he piled up 281 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata that stopped the Australian juggernauts. Laxman has scored six tons against Australia in the course of amassing 2434 runs. His love of tormenting the Aussie bowlers had handed India some unforgettable victories.
RAHUL DRAVID: Jammy-boy, Rahul Dravid's twin performances at Adelaide ended the 22-year drought of wins for India Down Under. However,his record of 2166 runs at 38.67 can be said to be modest at best but his knock of 180 runs in 353 balls in Kolkata against Aussies is one of the best innings that any Indian cricketer had come up within last three or four decades.
SUNIL GAVASKAR: Little Master had come up with some incredible innings against the best bowling attack of Aussies of all-times. He had played in a different era all together and has piled up as much as 1550 runs in 20 Tests against Australia. He gave the tough time to the mighty duo of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson with his brilliant technique and with an ample of patience that he carried with him.
SOURAV GANGULY: One of the best captains of Indian Cricket Team had led from the front and had ignited that spark in Indian team which was very much needed. His greatest knock against Aussies had come up in their own backyard. His hard-fought hundred at Brisbane is always rated as one of the best innings that he has ever played. Ganguly had managed to add 1403 runs against the mighty Aussies.
AUSTRALIA’s TOP 5 BATSMEN AGAINST INDIA
RICKY PONTING: He is arguably the best Australian Test Captain who has piled up heaps of runs against India in the longest format of the game. His batting has always looked a class apart and that was the reason behind his healthy average of 54.36 with which he scored mind-boggling 2555 runs.
MICHAEL CLARKE: Australian Captain kicked off his international career with the maiden hundred against India in Bangalore. He scored a mind-boggling triple century in 2012 and had a terrific run in that series. In just 20 Tests, Clarke has already added 1896 runs against India with an average of 55.76.
MATTHEW HAYDEN: One of the dangerous batsmen that World Cricket has seen in the past two decade and his favorite opposition was none other than India. On his first tour to India, he amassed more than 500 runs including a brilliant double hundred. He has scored 1888 runs against Indian bowlers.
ALLAN BORDER: Allan Border one of the best captains of Australian Cricket, has led his Australian team through very tough times and led them to a World Cup win in the Indian sub-continent in 1987. He had scored 1567 runs against India that in 20 tests.
DAVID BOON: Boon thrashed the Indian bowlers with his attacking stroke-play and robbed millions of hearts. He scored 1204 runs against India with a terrific average of 70.82. The way he used to tear apart the Indian bowling with his aggressive batting was a rare site those days.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News