| Series: | 2012–13 Border-Gavaskar Trophy |
| Date: | 12 February 2013 – 26 March 2013 |
| Place: |  India |
| Result: | India won the 4-match series 4–0 |
| Captain1: | Michael Clarke[1] |
| Captain2: | MS Dhoni |
| Runs1: | Michael Clarke (286) |
| Runs2: | Murali Vijay (430) |
| Wickets1: | Nathan Lyon (15) |
| Wickets2: | Ravichandran Ashwin (29) |
| Previous: | 2011–12 series |
| Next: | 2014–15 series |
The Australian cricket team toured India from 12 February to 26 March 2013, played a four-match Test series against India. During the 1st Test, Mahendra Singh Dhoni set the highest score by an Indian Test captain, scoring 224 runs, beating the previous record held by Sachin Tendulkar.[2] India won the four Test series in a 4–0 whitewash to win the Border–Gavaskar Trophy. This was first time Australia lost a test series 4-0 after their defeat against South Africa in 1970.[3]
Australia introduced two debutants, Moisés Henriques and Glenn Maxwell while India also introduced two debutants, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ajinkya Rahane.
See also: Border–Gavaskar Trophy.
India lost the toss and were asked to bowl on a pitch that will soon be a ripper for spinners. Aus got off to a quick start but started to struggle as spinners were introduced and lost 2 wickets before lunch. Post lunch it was Ashwin show completely as the off spinner picked 3 quick wickets. but resistance from Henriques and Clarke helped Aus reach 380.
India had a poor start and lost openers quickly. However, MS Dhoni along with tail-ender Bhuvneshvar had a 9th wicket record partnership which took India's total to more than 500. In the second innings, the Indian spinners struck regularly, and except Henriques, no other Aussie showed any resistance, thus leaving India with a small target. Sachin Tendulkar finished the match by hitting two sixes off consecutive balls.
India again lost the toss but this time the pacers extracted early movement which aided the spinners and resulted in low 1st innings total for Australia. Clarke and Wade had a useful partnership but the constant loss of wickets meant Clarke declared early. India, in their first innings, thanks to Pujara and Vijay for the partnership of 370 runs, scored 500+ again and the spinners in the 2nd innings dismissed Australia cheaply. This match marked the last test in the career of Virender Sehwag .
The first day was lost to rain, and thanks to Smith and Starc's batting, Australia got a healthy first innings total. India, however, with Dhawan's quickfire debut century and steady batting from Vijay, got a small lead. In the second innings, the Indian bowlers again dismissed the Australians for a low score and India won on the last day with less than 4 overs left.
Clarke was ruled out due to Back injury and Watson was the captain. The spinners wreaked havoc in the match, and only Siddle from Australia and Pujara from India showed some resistance. Jadeja got his best bowling figures in Tests in the second innings and India won the test to record their first-ever whitewash against Australia.
Homeworkgate[5] [6] refers to a controversial sequence of events that took place during the 2013 tour of India.
Australia lost the first two Tests of the series, the second of them by a heavy margin: an innings and 135 runs. In this game, Australia became the first team in Test cricket to declare in its first innings, and then lose the match by an innings. With two Test matches left, the best Australia could hope for was a drawn series. Before the 3rd Test, four Australian players – Shane Watson, James Pattinson (both of whom had played in the 2nd Test), Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja (who were in the touring party) – were made ineligible for the match following a breach of discipline.[7] The incident referred to an assignment given by head coach Mickey Arthur to the players requiring them to give in writing ways to improve their performance to help the team. The aforementioned players did not submit their replies within the time stipulated.[8] Michael Clarke, the captain, revealed that the extreme step had been taken as a result of repeated infractions.[9] Former players reacted with astonishment at the harsh decision taken by the team management.[10] Vice-captain Watson returned to the tour, after he flew back to Sydney after being dropped.[11]
| Statistic | India | Australia | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most series runs | 430 | 286 | |||
| Highest innings | 224 | 130 | |||
| Most centuries | 2 | 1 | |||
| Most fifties | 2 | 2 | |||
| Most wickets | 29 | 15 | |||
| Most five-wicket hauls | 4[12] | 1 | |||
| Best innings figure | 7/103 | 7/94 | |||
| Best match figure | 12/198 | 9/165 | |||
| Most catches (wicket-keepers included) | 9 | 4 | |||
| Most stumpings | 4 | 1 | |||
| Statistic | India | Australia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest team total | 572 | 408 | |
| Lowest team total | 50 | 131 | |
| Tosses won | 0 | 4 |