5 Infamous moments in India vs Australia Test cricket history

The game of bat and ball has never remained immune to controversies. International cricket has achieved impeccable milestones thanks to the unprecedented rise in viewership every passing year. Needless to say, the professional cricketers out in the middle leave no stones unturned to ensure that their supporters don the smiling face after the end of the match.

Many a time, it is seen that players representing their nations on the field tend to cross the line of ‘code of conduct’ which generates heat and rile between the two teams. Talking about India and Australia, it is rightly said that a tour can never end without exchange of few heated words between the world’s best cricketing sides.

Ahead of the much-awaited 4-match test series between the heavyweights India and Australia in the latter’s backyard, this article evokes some strong memories for cricket fanatics. Going down the memory lane as we highlight the top 5 infamous test moments between the two top cricketing bosses which have made it into the cricketing archives once and for all.

Infamous incidents between India and Australia Tests

1. The infamous Monkey-gate

It would be a profound injustice if the glaring incident does not find the first position in this shoddy list. The incident rolls back to 2008 when the Men-in-blue visited Australia under the flamboyant captainship of Anil Kumble. As the tour stepped into the most-important five-day format, there was a usual buzz in and around the cricketing fraternity which upscaled the hype of the Test series.

However, things took an ugly turn as the fans behind the screen and ones screaming at the iconic Sydney Cricket stadium witnessed one of the worst cricketing encounters in the history of the clash. The two teams were battling out in the second test match at the SCG wherein an incident broke out which took the world by surprise. While ‘exchange of words’ dominated more than the bat and ball on the 22-yards, the Indian spinning wizard Harbhajan Singh was accused of racism by the Australian swashbuckler Andrew Symonds. The Punjab-based cricketer faced a serious allegation of calling the later ‘monkey’ on the cricket pitch.

Eventually, Harbhajan underwent a trial by the ICC, where he was found guilty of saying something offensive. However, it was clearly misunderstood by the Australians, as Harbhajan had said it in Hindi. Consequently, he was banned for the following Test in Perth, during which the Indians ripped apart the hosts from the word go.