The Border–Gavaskar Trophy (colloquially known as BGT) is a Test cricket series played between India and Australia. The series is named after distinguished former captains, Allan Border of Australia and Sunil Gavaskar of India. It typically takes place twice every four years; once in Australia and once in India. The series usually consists of four or five Test matches between the two teams, with each match scheduled for up to five days. The team that ends up as the winner of the Test series is awarded the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, if the series is drawn, the team that is currently holding the trophy ends up retaining it.
Given the competitive nature of the India–Australia rivalry and the high standing of both teams, the Border–Gavaskar Trophy is considered to be one of the two most-valued bilateral trophies in Test cricket. Since Border-Gavaskar Trophy's inception in 1996, the trophy has changed hands a number of times, with India having been the relatively more successful side. Out of the 17 Test series played so far, India has been victorious in 10, while Australia has won 6, with the remaining one series drawn.
, Australia hold the trophy after they defeated India 3–1 in the 2024–25 series.
In the history of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India's Sachin Tendulkar has been the most successful batsman, scoring 3262 runs from 65 innings. Meanwhile, Australia's Nathan Lyon has been the most successful bowler, taking 125 wickets from 54 innings.
Summary of results
YearHostWinning team1996–97 1997–98 1999–00 2000–01 2003–04 Drawn2004–05 2007–08 2008–09 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2014–15 2016–17 2018–19 2020–21 2022–23 2024–25 2026-27TBD
Total Series Drawn 17 6 10 1
Background test series Unofficial Test series The first ever cricket encounter between India and Australia was Australia's 1935–36 tour of India to play a series of four unofficial Tests. It was followed by the Australian Services cricket team which toured India in 1945–46.
Season Touring team Host team Unofficial Tests Australia India Drawn Result1935–36 India Drawn1945–46 Australian Services India India
Test series and one-off encounters not under the trophy India's 1947–48 tour of Australia was its first after independence and included the first Test match and series between the two teams. The tours were irregularly scheduled with long gaps between them. Australia and India faced each other in the 2023 Test Championship final, the first Test since 1991–92 between the two teams where the Border–Gavaskar Trophy was not contested.
Season Host team Tests Australia India Drawn Tied Result1947–48 Australia1956–57 Australia1959–60 Australia1964–65 Drawn1967–68 Australia1969–70 Australia1977–78 Australia1979–80 India1980–81 Drawn1985–86 Drawn1986–87 Drawn1991–92 Australia2023 AustraliaTotal –
Results summary The Border–Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) is one of the premier bilateral trophies in Test cricket. Both India and Australia have a reputation of being difficult to beat at home. This is borne out by India winning 8 of the 9 BGT series held in India, and Australia winning (or drawing) 6 of the 8 BGT series held in Australia. The away series wins achieved by Australia (2004–05) and India (2018–19 and 2020–2021) have earned places in cricket folklore. Both teams have achieved similar number of Test match wins, and the trophy has also changed hands frequently. The competitiveness of the series is also reflected in that in both 2000–01 and 2007–08, it was India who ended Australia's streaks of 16 consecutive international Test wins. The 2000–01 series was labelled as the "final frontier" for Australia by their captain Steve Waugh due to the difficulty of winning in India, and was closely fought by both sides.
Series Years Host Tests Drawn Result HolderPlayer of the series 11996–97 Nayan Mongia 21997–98 Sachin Tendulkar 31999–2000 Sachin Tendulkar 42000–01 Harbhajan Singh 52003–04 Drawn Rahul Dravid 62004–05 Damien Martyn 72007–08 Brett Lee 82008–09 Ishant Sharma 92010–11 Sachin Tendulkar 102011–12 Michael Clarke 112012–13 Ravichandran Ashwin 122014–15 Steve Smith 132016–17 Ravindra Jadeja 142018–19 Cheteshwar Pujara 152020–21 Pat Cummins 162022–23 Ravindra Jadeja Ravichandran Ashwin 172024–25 Jasprit Bumrah 182026–27 Total
Total Series Drawn 17 6 10 1
1996–97 one-off Test The 1996–97 one-off Test was the first to be played under the Border–Gavaskar Trophy. This was also Sachin Tendulkar's first series as captain. The series consisted of just one match, played at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi.
The match, played from 10 to 14 October 1996, lasted just over four days, as India defeated Australia by seven wickets. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. But the Indian spinners, led by Anil Kumble, bowled them out for 182. Michael Slater top scored with 44 runs. In reply India scored 361, riding on Nayan Mongia's career best 152. In Australia's second innings, Steve Waugh scored 67 to get his team to 234. This left India with 56 to get in the fourth innings, which they did for the loss of three wickets.
1997–98 series
The Australian cricket team headed over to India in February–March 1998 looking to get their first win in India since the 1969–70 tour. The first Test in Chennai saw Sachin Tendulkar scoring 155 from 191 balls to give India the win by 179 runs with Australia crumbling under the spin trio of Anil Kumble, Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan as they got out on 168. The second Test at Kolkata saw another dominating performance from one of the Indian batsman with Mohammad Azharuddin 163 runs in India's only innings as India won the Test match by an innings and keeping the Border–Gavaskar Trophy in India.
The final Test at Bangalore saw Sachin Tendulkar get his second hundred of the series. In response, Mark Waugh got the Australians first century of the series with 153*. Australia with the help of Mark Taylor century would chase down the 194 runs that India set for them as they got the consolation win from the series to end the series at 2–1 in favour of India. At the end of the tour, Shane Warne famously said that he would be having nightmares of Tendulkar hitting him for sixes and that only Bradman was in his class.
1999–2000 series
Heading into the first edition of the Border–Gavaskar Trophy to be held in Australia, it was predicted to see an Australian win based on the back of the 3–0 series win at home against Pakistan. In the first Test at Adelaide, Australia got the win based from a first innings century from captain Steve Waugh while Damien Fleming's five wicket haul in the second innings saw the collapse of India who was bowled for 110 runs to give Australia a 285 run win. Australia would take home the second Test in Melbourne by 180 runs despite Tendulkar's century in the first innings. This Test also saw the debut of Australian bowler, Brett Lee who would go on to reach seventy two Test caps for Australia.
The final Test in Sydney saw another Australia win, this time by an innings and 141 runs. This was done with centuries from Justin Langer (223) and Ricky Ponting (141*) as Australia scored 5–552 in their only innings. Despite an effort from V. V. S. Laxman who scored 167 runs from 198 balls in the second innings, the damage was done in the first innings with India being bowled out for 150 with Glenn McGrath leading the charge as he got 10 wickets for the match.
2000–01 series
The 2000–01 series commenced on 27 February 2001 and concluded on 22 March 2001. The series consisted of three tests, played in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. India won the series 2–1.
The first Test was played in Mumbai on 27 February – 1 March 2001. The game was over in only three days as Australia dominated from the beginning, putting India in to bat and then dismissing them for only 176 runs. Glenn McGrath took 3–19 and Shane Warne 4–47, Sachin Tendulkar top scoring for India with 76. Australia responded with 349 on the backs of centuries by Matthew Hayden (119) and Adam Gilchrist (122). Harbhajan Singh took 4–121. India's second innings was barely better than their first, Tendulkar again top scoring with 65 in a total of 219. Needing only 47 runs to win, Australia's openers knocked them off in 7 overs, taking Australia to a 10 wicket victory and a 1–0 lead in the series.
The second Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 11 March – 15 March is regarded by many as one of the most exciting games of cricket ever played. It began with Australia electing to bat and scoring 445, captain Steve Waugh contributing 110. Harbhajan Singh took 7–123, including a hat-trick, which was the first Test hat-trick by an Indian bowler in 69 years of Indian cricketing history. India's woes continued, being dismissed for only 171, with McGrath taking 4–18. Australia enforced the follow-on and, at the end of day 3, India were 254/4, still 20 runs behind forcing Australia to bat again. For many spectators, commentators, and even players, the match and the series were as good as lost for India.
The fourth day saw the turnaround. V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid batted the entire day, never offering a chance, and ran the Australian fielders ragged as Waugh called on nine different bowlers to try to break the partnership. Laxman and Dravid added 376 runs, taking India to 589/4 and a commanding lead in the game. In the process, Laxman set a new individual high score record for India, surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's 236. Laxman was finally dismissed the next day on 281. Dravid made 180, and India declared on day 5 at 657/7, setting Australia an almost impossible target of 384 runs. Australia did not immediately crumble under the reversed pressure; at tea, they were 161/3 for their final innings, and a draw looked the most likely result. Then, the Australians lost 5 wickets for 8 in a span of 31 balls, with Harbhajan taking the first two wickets in the same over and Tendulkar taking the other three. Australia fell for 212 all out, with Harbhajan leading the bowling attack with 6–73. India had come back from the dead and recorded a stunning 171-run victory to level the series 1–1. They were only the third team in history to win a Test match after following on.
The Third Test began at Chennai on 18 March with high expectations of a hard-fought series decider. Australia won the toss for the third time and elected to bat. Hayden batted through the first day for an eventual total of 203, but the rest of Australia's team contributed little to the total of 391. Again, Harbhajan Singh was the destroyer, taking 7–133. India pushed to 501 on the back of Tendulkar's 126. Australia ended day 4 at 241/7, a precarious lead of 131 runs. Early on day 5, Harbhajan again ran through the Australian tail, taking 8–84 and his series tally to an astounding 32 wickets, leaving Australia all out for 264. India had a target of 155 to chase, and plenty of time to do it. The only question was whether Australia's bowlers could get them out first. In 42 nail-biting overs, India steadily lost wickets, sinking to 135/7, a tantalising 20 runs short of victory, but in dire danger of losing their last batsmen before they could score them. The 8th wicket fell at 151, 4 runs short of victory, and it was left to wicket-keeper Sameer Dighe and Harbhajan Singh to see out the end. Harbhajan Singh scored the winning runs past point and sealed the game and an incredible comeback series victory for India. The series victory for India meant that Australia had still not won a series in India for over 30 years.
2003–04 series
The Indian cricket team toured Australia during November 2003 – February 2004. The tour included a four-Test series, which commenced on 4 December 2003 and concluded on 6 January 2004, with Test matches in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The Test series was drawn, 1–1, and hence India retained the Border–Gavaskar Trophy.