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 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/aakash-chopra-names-lasith-malinga-skipper-in-his-t20i-xi-of-the-decade-picks-3-indians/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India</a> 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

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472344" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Monkey-Gate-incident.jpg" alt="Monkey Gate incident" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472344" class="wp-caption-text">Monkey Gate incident. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)</figcaption>

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 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kl-rahul-might-not-play-the-first-test-against-australia-aakash-chopra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Test</a> 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.

2. The infamous Sydney Tests

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472346" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Mark-Benson-and-Steve-Buckner-turned-biased-and-gave-some-wrong-decisions.jpg" alt="Mark Benson and Steve Buckner turned biased and gave some wrong decisions" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472346" class="wp-caption-text">Mark Benson and Steve Buckner got biased towards Australia and gave some wrong decisions (Photo by Jon Buckle &#8211; PA Images via Getty Images)</figcaption>

The second incident has also got its roots in the same second Test match which saw the spin-king Harbhajan Singh hog the headlines. However, the match is widely known not just for one reason. The five-day red ball game was highly rebuked by the fans and experts. As the match panned out in the hosts’ favour, it is alleged that the umpires were ‘biased’ towards the Aussies.

The umpires, Mark Benson and Steve Buckner were not upright with their duties as they gave as many as nine wrong decisions. Going under the lens of scrutiny, Indian fans were all guns out against the umpires when they almost did what Australian skipper Ricky Ponting asked them to do. Eventually, the batting brilliant Sourav Ganguly had to walk back to the dressing room as he became prey to poor umpiring.

With umpiring standards stooped to a &#8216;new&#8217; low, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/pakistan-cricket-board-excludes-india-from-future-tour-programme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India</a> lost the match by 122 runs. The Australian batting all-rounder Andrew Symonds was awarded the man of the match award for his scintillating 162 unbeaten in the first innings. However, the naïve umpiring coupled with the monkey-gate scandal cements the match into dark chapters of Indian cricketing folklore.

3. Slater attempted to create fissures but failed miserably

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472345" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Michael-Slater-sledged-Rahul-Dravid.jpg" alt="Michael Slater sledged Rahul Dravid" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472345" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Slater sledged Rahul Dravid. (Photo Source: Shaun Botterill /Allsport)</figcaption>

Australia’s tour to India back in 2001 is remembered for various reasons. Experts believe that it changed the cricketing landscape in India and brought the game out from the cobweb of corruption in the public eye as well. The eternal fans re-started to watch cricket matches without any spectacle of fixing-scrutiny. Eventually, it revived the faith of people in Indian cricket.

Meanwhile, a controversy broke out in the first test of the 3-match series. Both the teams locked horns against each other at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While every player was playing out of their skin, there was no backing off till the last delivery of the match was bowled. After Dravid had pulled a shot that landed just short of Michael Slater, a short-war seemed inevitable.

While Slater was confident that he had claimed the catch cleanly, replays showed the opposite. Frustrated Slater went to Dravid and exchanged a few words, along with Sachin Tendulkar. Eventually, the Karnataka based batsman’s 196 ball single-stand against the lethal bowling line-up sent a signal that the series would not be a usual cakewalk for the visitors. However, the Hayden-Gilchrist duo took the team across the winning mark with scintillating centuries coming from their willows. The series will be remembered for the Indian batting troika-VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar wreaked havoc against the brutal Aussie bowling line-up in the entire series. Although the 3-match clash resulted in a 1-1 draw, the words of Michael Slater spoke volumes about the Indian cricket wall&#8217;s class and temperament.

“Sledging Rahul Dravid was one of the mistakes of my life. He did not lose his cool even when I was hurling abuses at him. I could not stomach the fact that he was single-handedly demolishing the best team in the world. When the rage wore out on me, I realized that I was an animal and he was a gentleman. He won my heart instantly.” Slater remarked after the end of the first match.

4. Energetic Gautam Gambhir elbowed off aggressive Shane Watson

After the controversy-marred India tour of <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/if-australia-plan-to-make-us-dance-to-their-chin-music-weve-got-plenty-of-great-moves-in-store-shubman-gill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>, it was time for the Kangaroos to make their return visit to the cricket-crazy nation in 2008. With fans going berserk, the Indian cricket team was propelled to play their roles to perfection throughout the series.

As it turned out, the former opener Gautam Gambhir was all guns out against the powerful Aussie pace troika- Bret Lee, Mitchel Johnson, and Shane Watson in the third test match at Arun Jaitley Stadium. In the same match, the Delhi-based batsman got engaged in a tussle of words with batting all-rounder Shane Watson.

Subsequently, Gambhir had stuck an elbow into Shane Watson&#8217;s chest while completing a second run, en route to his double hundred. Talking about the result of the match, it was drawn after Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden notched up high scores in the team&#8217;s account. Later, the International cricket governing body ICC handed a one-Test ban to Gambhir for his &#8216;illegitimate&#8217; actions.

5. Steve Smith’s brain fade moment

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472343" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Steve-Smith-looked-at-dressing-room-to-review-his-lbw.jpg" alt="Steve Smith looked at dressing room to review his lbw" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472343" class="wp-caption-text">Steve Smith looked at dressing room to review his lbw. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

India under the stewardship of Virat Kohli epitomizes ‘within the line&#8217; aggressiveness. No stepping back and no stepping over- is what makes the Indian cricket era under the modern master Virat Kohli so distinguishable. Hence, the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2017 experienced another dispute which made into the headlines for several days.

Aussie skipper Steve Smith set off a storm of controversy in the second Test match staged at Bengaluru in India. In the second innings, Umesh Yadav bowled a ripper to Smith directed towards the wicket. Eventually, he looked at the dressing room to decide whether to call for a review into his lbw dismissal. Later in the press conference, he described the moment as a “brain fade”.

The Indian captain put forth his perspective in the matter with a rage-visible in his eyes. He said “ there&#8217;s a line that you don&#8217;t cross on the cricket field because sledging and playing against the opponents is different, but… I don&#8217;t want to mention the word, but it falls in that bracket. I would never do something like that on the cricket field”. Talking about the result of the Test series, Australia lost the series 2-1 owing to a string of poor performance by their ace players.

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 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/aakash-chopra-names-lasith-malinga-skipper-in-his-t20i-xi-of-the-decade-picks-3-indians/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India</a> 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.
<h3>Infamous incidents between India and Australia Tests</h3>
<h3>1. The infamous Monkey-gate</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472344" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472344" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-472344" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Monkey-Gate-incident.jpg" alt="Monkey Gate incident" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472344" class="wp-caption-text">Monkey Gate incident. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
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 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kl-rahul-might-not-play-the-first-test-against-australia-aakash-chopra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Test</a> 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.

<h3>2. The infamous Sydney Tests</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472346" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472346" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-472346" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Mark-Benson-and-Steve-Buckner-turned-biased-and-gave-some-wrong-decisions.jpg" alt="Mark Benson and Steve Buckner turned biased and gave some wrong decisions" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472346" class="wp-caption-text">Mark Benson and Steve Buckner got biased towards Australia and gave some wrong decisions (Photo by Jon Buckle &#8211; PA Images via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
The second incident has also got its roots in the same second Test match which saw the spin-king Harbhajan Singh hog the headlines. However, the match is widely known not just for one reason. The five-day red ball game was highly rebuked by the fans and experts. As the match panned out in the hosts’ favour, it is alleged that the umpires were ‘biased’ towards the Aussies.
The umpires, Mark Benson and Steve Buckner were not upright with their duties as they gave as many as nine wrong decisions. Going under the lens of scrutiny, Indian fans were all guns out against the umpires when they almost did what Australian skipper Ricky Ponting asked them to do. Eventually, the batting brilliant Sourav Ganguly had to walk back to the dressing room as he became prey to poor umpiring.
With umpiring standards stooped to a &#8216;new&#8217; low, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/pakistan-cricket-board-excludes-india-from-future-tour-programme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India</a> lost the match by 122 runs. The Australian batting all-rounder Andrew Symonds was awarded the man of the match award for his scintillating 162 unbeaten in the first innings. However, the naïve umpiring coupled with the monkey-gate scandal cements the match into dark chapters of Indian cricketing folklore.

<h3>3. Slater attempted to create fissures but failed miserably</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472345" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472345" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-472345" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Michael-Slater-sledged-Rahul-Dravid.jpg" alt="Michael Slater sledged Rahul Dravid" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472345" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Slater sledged Rahul Dravid. (Photo Source: Shaun Botterill /Allsport)</figcaption></figure>
Australia’s tour to India back in 2001 is remembered for various reasons. Experts believe that it changed the cricketing landscape in India and brought the game out from the cobweb of corruption in the public eye as well. The eternal fans re-started to watch cricket matches without any spectacle of fixing-scrutiny. Eventually, it revived the faith of people in Indian cricket.
Meanwhile, a controversy broke out in the first test of the 3-match series. Both the teams locked horns against each other at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While every player was playing out of their skin, there was no backing off till the last delivery of the match was bowled. After Dravid had pulled a shot that landed just short of Michael Slater, a short-war seemed inevitable.
While Slater was confident that he had claimed the catch cleanly, replays showed the opposite. Frustrated Slater went to Dravid and exchanged a few words, along with Sachin Tendulkar. Eventually, the Karnataka based batsman’s 196 ball single-stand against the lethal bowling line-up sent a signal that the series would not be a usual cakewalk for the visitors. However, the Hayden-Gilchrist duo took the team across the winning mark with scintillating centuries coming from their willows. The series will be remembered for the Indian batting troika-VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar wreaked havoc against the brutal Aussie bowling line-up in the entire series. Although the 3-match clash resulted in a 1-1 draw, the words of Michael Slater spoke volumes about the Indian cricket wall&#8217;s class and temperament.
“Sledging Rahul Dravid was one of the mistakes of my life. He did not lose his cool even when I was hurling abuses at him. I could not stomach the fact that he was single-handedly demolishing the best team in the world. When the rage wore out on me, I realized that I was an animal and he was a gentleman. He won my heart instantly.” Slater remarked after the end of the first match.

<h3>4. Energetic Gautam Gambhir elbowed off aggressive Shane Watson</h3>
<amp-img class="size-full wp-image-472342 aligncenter" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Heated-exchange-of-words-between-Gambhir-and-Shane-Watson.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img>
After the controversy-marred India tour of <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/if-australia-plan-to-make-us-dance-to-their-chin-music-weve-got-plenty-of-great-moves-in-store-shubman-gill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>, it was time for the Kangaroos to make their return visit to the cricket-crazy nation in 2008. With fans going berserk, the Indian cricket team was propelled to play their roles to perfection throughout the series.
As it turned out, the former opener Gautam Gambhir was all guns out against the powerful Aussie pace troika- Bret Lee, Mitchel Johnson, and Shane Watson in the third test match at Arun Jaitley Stadium. In the same match, the Delhi-based batsman got engaged in a tussle of words with batting all-rounder Shane Watson.
Subsequently, Gambhir had stuck an elbow into Shane Watson&#8217;s chest while completing a second run, en route to his double hundred. Talking about the result of the match, it was drawn after Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden notched up high scores in the team&#8217;s account. Later, the International cricket governing body ICC handed a one-Test ban to Gambhir for his &#8216;illegitimate&#8217; actions.

<h3>5. Steve Smith’s brain fade moment</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472343" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472343" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-472343" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Steve-Smith-looked-at-dressing-room-to-review-his-lbw.jpg" alt="Steve Smith looked at dressing room to review his lbw" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472343" class="wp-caption-text">Steve Smith looked at dressing room to review his lbw. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
India under the stewardship of Virat Kohli epitomizes ‘within the line&#8217; aggressiveness. No stepping back and no stepping over- is what makes the Indian cricket era under the modern master Virat Kohli so distinguishable. Hence, the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2017 experienced another dispute which made into the headlines for several days.
Aussie skipper Steve Smith set off a storm of controversy in the second Test match staged at Bengaluru in India. In the second innings, Umesh Yadav bowled a ripper to Smith directed towards the wicket. Eventually, he looked at the dressing room to decide whether to call for a review into his lbw dismissal. Later in the press conference, he described the moment as a “brain fade”.
The Indian captain put forth his perspective in the matter with a rage-visible in his eyes. He said “ there&#8217;s a line that you don&#8217;t cross on the cricket field because sledging and playing against the opponents is different, but… I don&#8217;t want to mention the word, but it falls in that bracket. I would never do something like that on the cricket field”. Talking about the result of the Test series, Australia lost the series 2-1 owing to a string of poor performance by their ace players.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

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 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/aakash-chopra-names-lasith-malinga-skipper-in-his-t20i-xi-of-the-decade-picks-3-indians/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India</a> 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.
<h3>Infamous incidents between India and Australia Tests</h3>
<h3>1. The infamous Monkey-gate</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472344" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472344" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472344" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Monkey-Gate-incident.jpg" alt="Monkey Gate incident" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472344" class="wp-caption-text">Monkey Gate incident. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
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 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kl-rahul-might-not-play-the-first-test-against-australia-aakash-chopra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Test</a> 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.

<h3>2. The infamous Sydney Tests</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472346" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472346" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472346" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Mark-Benson-and-Steve-Buckner-turned-biased-and-gave-some-wrong-decisions.jpg" alt="Mark Benson and Steve Buckner turned biased and gave some wrong decisions" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472346" class="wp-caption-text">Mark Benson and Steve Buckner got biased towards Australia and gave some wrong decisions (Photo by Jon Buckle &#8211; PA Images via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
The second incident has also got its roots in the same second Test match which saw the spin-king Harbhajan Singh hog the headlines. However, the match is widely known not just for one reason. The five-day red ball game was highly rebuked by the fans and experts. As the match panned out in the hosts’ favour, it is alleged that the umpires were ‘biased’ towards the Aussies.
The umpires, Mark Benson and Steve Buckner were not upright with their duties as they gave as many as nine wrong decisions. Going under the lens of scrutiny, Indian fans were all guns out against the umpires when they almost did what Australian skipper Ricky Ponting asked them to do. Eventually, the batting brilliant Sourav Ganguly had to walk back to the dressing room as he became prey to poor umpiring.
With umpiring standards stooped to a &#8216;new&#8217; low, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/pakistan-cricket-board-excludes-india-from-future-tour-programme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India</a> lost the match by 122 runs. The Australian batting all-rounder Andrew Symonds was awarded the man of the match award for his scintillating 162 unbeaten in the first innings. However, the naïve umpiring coupled with the monkey-gate scandal cements the match into dark chapters of Indian cricketing folklore.

<h3>3. Slater attempted to create fissures but failed miserably</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472345" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472345" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472345" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Michael-Slater-sledged-Rahul-Dravid.jpg" alt="Michael Slater sledged Rahul Dravid" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472345" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Slater sledged Rahul Dravid. (Photo Source: Shaun Botterill /Allsport)</figcaption></figure>
Australia’s tour to India back in 2001 is remembered for various reasons. Experts believe that it changed the cricketing landscape in India and brought the game out from the cobweb of corruption in the public eye as well. The eternal fans re-started to watch cricket matches without any spectacle of fixing-scrutiny. Eventually, it revived the faith of people in Indian cricket.
Meanwhile, a controversy broke out in the first test of the 3-match series. Both the teams locked horns against each other at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While every player was playing out of their skin, there was no backing off till the last delivery of the match was bowled. After Dravid had pulled a shot that landed just short of Michael Slater, a short-war seemed inevitable.
While Slater was confident that he had claimed the catch cleanly, replays showed the opposite. Frustrated Slater went to Dravid and exchanged a few words, along with Sachin Tendulkar. Eventually, the Karnataka based batsman’s 196 ball single-stand against the lethal bowling line-up sent a signal that the series would not be a usual cakewalk for the visitors. However, the Hayden-Gilchrist duo took the team across the winning mark with scintillating centuries coming from their willows. The series will be remembered for the Indian batting troika-VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar wreaked havoc against the brutal Aussie bowling line-up in the entire series. Although the 3-match clash resulted in a 1-1 draw, the words of Michael Slater spoke volumes about the Indian cricket wall&#8217;s class and temperament.
“Sledging Rahul Dravid was one of the mistakes of my life. He did not lose his cool even when I was hurling abuses at him. I could not stomach the fact that he was single-handedly demolishing the best team in the world. When the rage wore out on me, I realized that I was an animal and he was a gentleman. He won my heart instantly.” Slater remarked after the end of the first match.

<h3>4. Energetic Gautam Gambhir elbowed off aggressive Shane Watson</h3>
<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472342 aligncenter" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Heated-exchange-of-words-between-Gambhir-and-Shane-Watson.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px">
After the controversy-marred India tour of <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/if-australia-plan-to-make-us-dance-to-their-chin-music-weve-got-plenty-of-great-moves-in-store-shubman-gill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>, it was time for the Kangaroos to make their return visit to the cricket-crazy nation in 2008. With fans going berserk, the Indian cricket team was propelled to play their roles to perfection throughout the series.
As it turned out, the former opener Gautam Gambhir was all guns out against the powerful Aussie pace troika- Bret Lee, Mitchel Johnson, and Shane Watson in the third test match at Arun Jaitley Stadium. In the same match, the Delhi-based batsman got engaged in a tussle of words with batting all-rounder Shane Watson.
Subsequently, Gambhir had stuck an elbow into Shane Watson&#8217;s chest while completing a second run, en route to his double hundred. Talking about the result of the match, it was drawn after Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden notched up high scores in the team&#8217;s account. Later, the International cricket governing body ICC handed a one-Test ban to Gambhir for his &#8216;illegitimate&#8217; actions.

<h3>5. Steve Smith’s brain fade moment</h3>
<figure id="attachment_472343" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472343" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-472343" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Steve-Smith-looked-at-dressing-room-to-review-his-lbw.jpg" alt="Steve Smith looked at dressing room to review his lbw" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-472343" class="wp-caption-text">Steve Smith looked at dressing room to review his lbw. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
India under the stewardship of Virat Kohli epitomizes ‘within the line&#8217; aggressiveness. No stepping back and no stepping over- is what makes the Indian cricket era under the modern master Virat Kohli so distinguishable. Hence, the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2017 experienced another dispute which made into the headlines for several days.
Aussie skipper Steve Smith set off a storm of controversy in the second Test match staged at Bengaluru in India. In the second innings, Umesh Yadav bowled a ripper to Smith directed towards the wicket. Eventually, he looked at the dressing room to decide whether to call for a review into his lbw dismissal. Later in the press conference, he described the moment as a “brain fade”.
The Indian captain put forth his perspective in the matter with a rage-visible in his eyes. He said “ there&#8217;s a line that you don&#8217;t cross on the cricket field because sledging and playing against the opponents is different, but… I don&#8217;t want to mention the word, but it falls in that bracket. I would never do something like that on the cricket field”. Talking about the result of the Test series, Australia lost the series 2-1 owing to a string of poor performance by their ace players.
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The India Australia Test history is laced with variety of infamous moments on the field.

5 Infamous moments in India vs Australia Test cricket history

Talking about India and Australia, it is rightly said that a tour can never end without exchange of few heated words between players