| Series Name: | Indian cricket team in Australia in 2011–12 |
| Team1 Image: | Flag of Australia.svg |
| Team1 Name: | Australia |
| Team2 Image: | Flag of India.svg |
| Team2 Name: | India |
| From Date: | 15 December 2011 |
| To Date: | 28 February 2012 |
| Team1 Captain: | Michael Clarke (Tests) George Bailey (T20Is) |
| Team2 Captain: | MS Dhoni (1st–3rd Tests/T20Is) Virender Sehwag (4th Test) |
| No Of Tests: | 4 |
| Team1 Tests Won: | 4 |
| Team2 Tests Won: | 0 |
| Team1 Tests Most Runs: | Michael Clarke (626) |
| Team2 Tests Most Runs: | Virat Kohli (300) |
| Team1 Tests Most Wickets: | Ben Hilfenhaus (27) |
| Team2 Tests Most Wickets: | Zaheer Khan (15) |
| Player Of Test Series: | Michael Clarke (Aus) |
| No Of Twenty20s: | 2 |
| Team1 Twenty20s Won: | 1 |
| Team2 Twenty20s Won: | 1 |
| Team1 Twenty20s Most Runs: | Matthew Wade (104) |
| Team2 Twenty20s Most Runs: | Gautam Gambhir (76) |
| Team1 Twenty20s Most Wickets: | Daniel Christian (2) David Hussey (2) Brad Hogg (2) |
| Team2 Twenty20s Most Wickets: | Rahul Sharma (3) |
The Indian cricket team toured Australia from 15 December 2011 to 28 February 2012.[1] The tour included four Tests to contest the Border–Gavaskar Trophy (which was held by India at the start of the tour),[2] two Twenty20s (T20Is),[3] [4] and eight ODIs as part of the Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series which also involved Sri Lanka.[5]
Australian won the four Test series in a 4–0 whitewash to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australian captain Michael Clarke was named the player of the series, having scored 626 runs at an average of 125.20. In the second Test match, Clarke, with 329 not out, scored the 25th triple century in Test match cricket. The third Test match saw David Warner bring up a century in just 69 deliveries, setting a new record for the fastest Test century by an opening batsman. In the fourth Test, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke compiled a fourth wicket partnership of 386 runs, the highest partnership in Tests between Australia and India, or in Tests at the Adelaide Oval. Following the Test series, The T20I series was held which was drawn 1–1. The tour concluded with the ODI tri-series with India finishing last in the ODI tri-series, with three wins, one tie and four losses from its eight ODIs and did not make it to the best of three finals.
By mid-2011, the Indian cricket team was enjoying unprecedented success, winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup held at home, while also being the No. 1 Test team, which they had achieved in 2009.[6] They proved to be undefeatable at home as always, but also enjoyed success away, especially beyond the subcontinent such as in South Africa in late 2010, where for the first time ever, the Indian cricket team did not lose a Test series there. The team, led by wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was widely praised by media and former cricketers, and Dhoni's captaincy was also considered by some experts to be one of the reasons for India's success. However, this success was turned upside down in their tour to England in 2011. It was widely expected that India would win the Test and ODI series there, by light of their recent success. However, their weaknesses in their bowling and batting were completely exposed by the Englishmen and they lost all the 4 Tests, losing their No. 1 Test status to England.[7] Despite the debacle in England, it was widely expected that India would retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the series in Australia, as the team's previous 2 tours Down Under were ok with achieving 2 test victories and that the Australian cricket team was now quite weak. Also the nucleus of the Indian side selected for the tour had a number of players who had a good record in Australia. India had most recently won a five-match ODI home series against England 5–0 in October and a three-Test home series against the West Indies 2–0 in November, further improving expectations.
The Australian team, however, was undergoing a period of transition, with many of their successful players like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath having retired a couple of years prior and former captain and batting mainstay Ricky Ponting woefully out-of-form. The team was now captained by Michael Clarke and had many inexperienced players. Australia's recent record was not inspiring, meekly losing the Ashes series, not going to the semifinals of the Cricket World Cup for the first time since 1992, and drawing two prior Test series against South Africa away and against New Zealand at home.[8] Their coach Tim Nielsen had been sacked[9] and replaced with former South African coach Mickey Arthur.[10] Not many cricket experts and media, even in Australia, were expecting an Australian resurgence against a very formidable India.
Also, this was batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar's fifth series in Australia, having been a member of the Indian side in its previous tours Down Under in 1991, 1999, 2003 and 2007.[11] At the beginning of the tour, Tendulkar had scored 99 centuries in international cricket; the tour gave him the opportunity to become the first player in the history of the sport to reach score his hundredth century.[12]
India made two changes to its bowling attack from the third test of the West Indies series, with pacemen Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav replacing paceman Varun Aaron and spinner Pragyan Ojha, and fielding an unchanged batting lineup. Harbhajan Singh, who had previously taken the wicket of Ponting ten times in his career, was not selected.
In the Limited Overs squad, Praveen Kumar returned to the squad after recovering from a fractured rib. Sachin Tendulkar was also in the squad, although he had not played an ODI since the final of the World Cup in April 2011.
Australian T20I captain Cameron White was dropped from the T20I team due to poor form at domestic level; he was replaced in the team, and replaced as captain, by George Bailey, who made his international debut. Australian spinner Brad Hogg came out of retirement at the age of 41 to play the T20Is.
See main article: Border–Gavaskar Trophy.
Entering the series, India held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after winning the previous two Test series between the countries, both of which were held in India: 2–0 from four Tests in 2008–09, and 2–0 from two Tests in 2010–11.
The series was played without the players having access to the decision review system (DRS). At the time, the DRS could be used in any Test series at the agreement of both participating cricket boards, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India opposed its use in this series. Umpires could still initiate reviews to the third umpire for run out, stumping and no ball decisions.[17]
Match Report:
James Pattinson was named player of the match, with bowling figures of 2/55 and 4/53, and useful batting contributions of 18* and 37*. It was Pattinson's second player of the match award in only the third Test match of his career.[21]
Match Report:
In reply, the Australian top order collapsed to 3/37, with Zaheer Khan taking all three wickets and at one point on a hat-trick. Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting then steadied the Australian innings, adding 79 runs without loss to take Australia to 3/116 at stumps.
After losing Virender Sehwag (4) early, Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid (29) added 82 runs for the second wicket, before Dravid was dismissed late in the day. India finished 2/114 at stumps, with Ben Hilfenhaus taking both third day wickets for Australia.
Michael Clarke was named man of the match for his career best of 329*.[23] Clarke's innings is the highest score and the first Test triple century at the SCG, and third-highest score by an Australian captain in Test cricket, behind Mark Taylor (334*) and Sir Donald Bradman (334). Clarke also took Tendulkar's wicket in the second innings.
Ricky Ponting's 134 broke a slump of 31 Test innings without a century.
On the eve of the test match, an Indian television network caught WACA ground staff drinking on the uncovered match pitch. Pitch curator Cameron Sutherland responded by claiming it was a traditional event for the ground staff which had occurred since Sutherland took over the job of curator.[24]
Both teams opted to play four fast bowlers, with Mitchell Starc and Ryan Harris replacing spinner Nathan Lyon and injured paceman James Pattinson for Australia, and debutante Vinay Kumar replacing spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for India.
Match Report:
In reply, Australia raced to 0/149 in just 23 overs before the close of play, at a run rate of 6.47 runs per over, with opener David Warner scoring a century from only 69 deliveries to finish on 104* at stumps; it set a new record for the fastest Test century by an opening batsman, breaking the previous record set by Chris Gayle (70 balls) at the same venue in 2009–10. The century matched Shivnarine Chanderpaul to become the equal-fourth fastest Test century scored at that time.[25]
In its second innings, India fell to 4/51 before finishing the day at 4/88, a deficit of 120 runs.[26]
The innings victory gave Australia a 3–0 lead in the series, ensuring that Australia would win the series and regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 4 years.
David Warner was named Man of the Match.[27] MS Dhoni (the Captain of India) was suspended for one match after he was found guilty of a slow over-rate for the second time in twelve months. He was fined 40% of his match fee and the rest of the Indian team was fined 20%.[28]
Match Report:
Australia won the toss and chose to bat on a good pitch for batting. India reduced Australia to 3/84, with spinner Ravichandran Ashwin coming into the attack early and taking two wickets. Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting then combined to put on an unbeaten partnership of 251 before the end of the day, with both men making centuries. In the process, Ponting passed 13,000 Test runs, becoming the third batsman, and the first Australian batsman, to reach the milestone. Australia finished the day at 335/3.[29]
Peter Siddle (5/49 & 1/47) won the Man of the Match award, after being the main wicket taker in the top order of India's first innings.
| Test Statistics | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tests | Runs | Batting average | Wickets | Bowling average | ||||||
Michael Clarke  (c) | 4 | 626 | 125.20 | 1 | 54.00 | ||||||
Mahendra Singh Dhoni  (c/wk) | 3 | 102 | 20.40 | ||||||||
| Brad Haddin (vc/wk) | 4 | 86 | 28.66 | ||||||||
| Virender Sehwag (vc) | 4 | 198 | 24.75 | 1 | 157.00 | ||||||
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 3 | 163 | 32.60 | 9 | 62.77 | ||||||
| Ed Cowan | 4 | 206 | 34.33 | ||||||||
| Rahul Dravid | 4 | 194 | 24.25 | ||||||||
| Gautam Gambhir | 4 | 181 | 22.62 | ||||||||
| Ryan Harris | 2 | 44 | 44.00 | 6 | 29.83 | ||||||
| Ben Hilfenhaus | 4 | 39 | 13.00 | 27 | 17.22 | ||||||
| Michael Hussey | 4 | 293 | 58.60 | 0 | |||||||
| Zaheer Khan | 4 | 69 | 8.62 | 15 | 31.80 | ||||||
| Virat Kohli | 4 | 300 | 37.50 | 0 | |||||||
| VVS Laxman | 4 | 155 | 19.37 | ||||||||
| Nathan Lyon | 3 | 6 | 3.00 | 7 | 41.57 | ||||||
| Shaun Marsh | 4 | 17 | 2.83 | ||||||||
| James Pattinson | 2 | 55 | 11 | 23.36 | |||||||
| Ricky Ponting | 4 | 544 | 108.80 | ||||||||
| Wriddhiman Saha (wk) | 1 | 38 | 19.00 | ||||||||
| Ishant Sharma | 4 | 49 | 7.00 | 5 | 90.20 | ||||||
| Peter Siddle | 4 | 77 | 19.25 | 23 | 18.65 | ||||||
| Mitchell Starc | 1 | 15 | 4 | 17.50 | |||||||
| Sachin Tendulkar | 4 | 287 | 35.87 | ||||||||
| R Vinay Kumar | 1 | 11 | 5.50 | 1 | 73.00 | ||||||
| David Warner | 4 | 266 | 44.33 | 0 | |||||||
| Umesh Yadav | 4 | 28 | 9.33 | 13 | 39.35 | ||||||
Match Report:Matthew Wade's 72 off 43 deliveries propelled Australia to a score of 171.[34]
Match Report:[35]
As a result of winning this match, India ended a 17 away international win drought.
| Match | Day | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne[36] | 1 | 70,917 | |
| 2 | 52,858 | ||
| 3 | 40,556 | ||
| 4 | 25,865 | ||
| Match Total | 189,347 | ||
| Sydney[37] | 1 | 35,510 | |
| 2 | 30,077 | ||
| 3 | 31,644 | ||
| 4 | 17,881 | ||
| Match Total | 115,112 | ||
| Perth[38] | 1 | 17,956 | |
| 2 | 17,194 | ||
| 3 | 14,352 | ||
| Match Total | 49,502 | ||
| Adelaide[39] | 1 | 21,480 | |
| 2 | 19,671 | ||
| 3 | 35,081 | ||
| 4 | 17,408 | ||
| Match Total | 93,640 | ||
| Total | 15 | 447,601 | |
| Average | 29,840 |
See main article: 2011–12 Commonwealth Bank Series.
The 2011–12 Commonwealth Bank Series was a triangular One Day International cricket tournament, played by Australia, India and Sri Lanka. The tournament was held in Australia from 5 February 2012 to 8 March 2012, and consisted of a round robin stage, in which each nation played each of the others four times. The top two teams at the end of the round robin stage then participated in a best-of-three finals series.
In a close round robin, Sri Lanka and Australia qualified for the finals series, each with 19 points in the group stage; India finished last with 15 points, and did not qualify for the finals. Australia went on to beat Sri Lanka 2–1 in the finals.
| Group Stage | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | T | NR | BP | Points | NRR | For | Against | |
| 1 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19 | +0.164 | 1977 (373.3) | 1920 (374.2) | ||
| 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | +0.454 | 1916 (373) | 1663 (355.1) | ||
| 3 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | −0.593 | 1793 (365) | 2103 (382) | ||
The Indian cricket team, humiliated in all forms of the game in the tour, was the subject of ridicule from the media and former cricketers. The Australian wrote under the headline "India's pillars of strength reduced to useless rubble"
Dhoni is not the only shaky pillar of what only eight months ago was the number one cricket nation in the world. VVS Laxman, once the scourge of Australian bowlers, is being flayed himself at home after scores of 2,1, 2, 66, 31 and 0. Virender Sehwag, who warmed up for this series by scoring the fastest double century in One-Day International history, also is trending south faster than Scott and Amundsen, having followed up his whirlwind 67 in Melbourne with innings of 7, 30, 4, 0 and 10. Worst of all, Dhoni has failed with the bat. The Indian captain is no thunderer at the best of times – neither is coach Duncan Fletcher, which may be part of the problem – but how can he demand more of his batsmen when he has nowhere to hide behind scores of 6, 23, 57no, 2, 12 and 2? India has not had a single century-maker in the past three Tests,The Daily Telegraph said that India's performance was "so bad that the first question that came Michael Clarke's way at the press conference was 'did it feel as if you were playing Bangladesh?'". The newspaper also played up Dhoni's one-match ban due to the Indian team's slow over-rate in the third Test. Under the headline 'Dhoni dumped from Adelaide Test', the newspaper wrote, "India's shambolic tour of Australia plunged into unprecedented disarray when their captain MS Dhoni was sensationally banned from playing in the final Test due to slow over rates". The Herald Sun wrote about how Australia built up a team after the Ashes humiliation last year while sarcastically mentioning the visiting players skipping practice sessions in the tour.
As painful as it was, getting flogged in last year's Ashes may be remembered as the recession Australia had to have. Nothing is being taken for granted in Australian cricket any more. The new coaching unit is working well under head coach Mickey Arthur and Australia has worked hard to freshen up every aspect of its game. India, by contrast, just lobs along, its players pocketing millions each year and too spoilt to make major sacrifices. It's appropriate that many Indian players spent a lot of time last week sitting under trees at training, because their entire Test match game is being left in the shade.
The Indian tour to Australia was the last international series for Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Dravid announced his retirement from international cricket soon after the tour[40] and Laxman announced his retirement after he was selected for the two match home series against New-Zealand in August 2012.