Melbourne, Dec 29 : Australia’s batting struggles at home against India in Tests, which started in the 2018/19 series that they lost 2-1, doesn’t seem to have been solved thus far in the ongoing four-match series despite the inclusion of experienced Steve Smith and the in-form Marnus Labuschagne.
Batsmen from the host’s team are yet to score a century against India at home since 2018 and only one Australian — Marcus Harris — features in the top 10 highest individual scores in Test matches between the two sides in Australia in this period.
Harris, who is not part of the Aussie squad for the ongoing series, scored 79 in the drawn fourth Test at the SCG in 2019 and that remains the highest score by an Australian at home against India in just over two years. His score is the ninth highest in matches played between the two teams Down Under with Cheteshwar Pujara’s 193 in the same Test being the highest. Pujara features thrice in the list while India captain Virat Kohli has two scores in the top 10 — his 123 at Perth and 82 in Melbourne in 2018.
Ajinkya Rahane, who is standing in as India’s captain for the rest of the ongoing series, is the newest entrant in the list thanks to his masterful 112 in the second Test, which remains the only century scored thus far by any batsman this series. The top 10 is rounded off by Mayank Agarwal’s 77 in the Sydney Test in 2019.
Australia are yet to go past 200 in the four innings they have played thus far in this series. While they easily chased down a target of 90 in the first Test against a deflated India who were shot out for just 36 runs, they were all out for 191 in the first innings and then scored 195 and 200 in the second Test which they lost by eight wickets.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.