OTD: India took a 2-0 lead in the Border Gavaskar Trophy when they wrapped up the second Test against Australia in 3 days in 2023

In the last few years in the rivalry between India and Australia in Test cricket, the balance has shifted towards the former. The last four Border-Gavaskar Trophies have been clinched by the Indian team and on this day, they almost sealed their latest series win against Australia with a victory in the second match of the 2023 series in Delhi. 

First Innings

The Indian team arrived in Delhi with an important 1-0 lead that they registered in Nagpur. It was important for Australia to fight back in Delhi if they wanted to keep their hopes of winning the series alive. Pat Cummins won the toss for the Kangaroos and opted to bat first in order to avoid batting last in the second innings. The Indian conditions are particularly difficult to deal with on the fourth and fifth day of a Test match for the batting side. 

Keeping this in mind it was a good toss to win for Australia but they could not post a huge total on the board in the first innings. The visitors ended up with 263 runs courtesy of half-centuries from Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb. However, this was certainly an underwhelming score as Australia would have wanted to at least cross the 300-run mark to create enough pressure on India. 

But Australia made a great comeback with the ball and restricted India to 262 runs earning a 1-run lead. The match was now hanging in balance and the visitors had a genuine chance of winning the Test match but as they say “never underestimate the Indians.”

Second Innings

Australia witnessed a dramatic collapse in the second innings and India wrapped up their second inning for just 113 runs. After the initial show of resilience from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne there was an absolute mockery of the Australian batting unit. No other batter could even get to the double digits. 

Eventually, India chased the target of 115 runs with much ease after early hiccups. With this win India had a 2-0 lead and an Australian victory in the series was now out of the equation. Ravindra Jadeja was awarded the Player of the Match for his extraordinary bowling performance in the second innings.