Australia vs India 2018: India's last victorious Test playing XI in Australia- Where are they now?

The Indian team has hardly had a good run Down Under, especially in the Test format. They are yet to win a Test series in Australia. On the other hand, the Australians have won the Test series in India four times: 1956,1959,1970 and 2004.

Despite such a poor Test record in Australia, many cricket pundits consider the upcoming tour as the best chance for the Indian team to finally win a Test series Down Under. This time around, India are scheduled to play 3 T20I, 4 Test matches and 3 ODIs.

The Australian team is currently going through a rough patch in international cricket and will be without the services of their two key batsmen: David Warner and Steve Smith.

Also, in order to win its maiden Test series Down Under, the Indian selectors have announced a strong 18 man squad consisting of 8 batsmen, 2 wicket-keepers, 2 spinners and 5 fast bowlers, with Ravindra Jadeja being the sole bowling all-rounder for the four Test matches.

It might be shocking to know, but India's last Test win in Australia was ten years back in 2008. India defeated Australia by 72 runs at the fast and bouncy track of WACA, Perth in the third Test of the four match Test series. However, the Indian team went on to lose the four match Test series by a margin of 1-2.

Currently, just one player who took the field in the match winning Perth Test match, is a part of the Indian setup, as majority of the players have hung up their boots and few of them have been dropped.

Hence, let us look at the playing XI of the Indian team which took the field, when India last won a Test match Down Under at Perth:

#1 Wasim Jaffer

Despite being a heavy run scorer in the domestic circuit, Wasim Jaffer is considered by many cricket fans and pundits as one of the unluckiest cricketer to have ever played for India. He hardly got enough chances to establish himself in the Indian team.

In the victorious Perth Test, Jaffer did not have a good game as he was dismissed quickly in both the innings at the score of 16 and 11 runs respectively. In fact, Wasim Jaffer had a very poor series with the bat as he could score just 49 runs in 6 innings and was subsequently dropped for the final Test match at Adelaide.

The emergence of Gautam Gambhir in Test cricket in the same year, coupled with Sehwag's return to form in 2008, meant that Jaffer lost his place in the Indian team, and last played for India in April 2008 against South Africa.

Currently, Wasim Jaffer still continues to play in the domestic circuit for Vidarbha even at the age of 40, and holds the record of being the highest run scorer in the Indian domestic circuit.

#2 Virender Sehwag

During his playing days, Virender Sehwag was a nightmare for bowlers even in Test matches. His fearless approach towards batting approach would change the course of the match in just a few overs.

Prior to the beginning of the Perth Test, Sehwag replaced out of form Yuvraj Singh in the playing XI. He had a pretty decent match as he scored 29 and 43 runs respectively in the 1st and 2nd innings and even took two wickets with the ball in the 2nd innings.

Since his debut, Sehwag was a regular member of Indian Team in all the three formats of the game. He was part of the Indian Team that reached the finals of ICC World Cup 2003 under Sourav Ganguly, along with being the member of Indian Team that won ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC ODI World Cup 2011 under MS Dhoni.

However in early 2013, Sehwag was dropped from the Indian team due to poor run of form and subsequently retired from international cricket in October 2015.

Post-retirement, Sehwag become a commentator and is currently the coach and mentor of Kings XI Punjab in IPL since 2016.

#3 Rahul Dravid

The Wall of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid had a great Test match at Perth as he missed out on a century by just 7 runs in the 1st innings. He was dismissed for 93 runs by Andrew Symonds.

Dravid played for India from 1996 to 2012 and retired from international cricket with more than 10,000 runs in both one-day and Test formats, and is widely regarded by many cricket pundits as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket.

Currently, Dravid is the coach of India A and India U-19 teams and recently in January, India won the ICC U-19 World Cup 2018 under his coaching.

#4 Sachin Tendulkar

The legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar, is regarded by many cricket pundits and fans as the greatest batsman to have ever played the game of cricket, and holds almost all the batting records in the international cricket.

In India's match winning Perth Test, the Master Blaster had a pretty good game. He scored 73 runs and stitched together a crucial 139 runs partnership for the third wicket with Rahul Dravid in the 1st innings. The Master Blaster was also the highest run scorer in the entire four match Test series with 493 runs at a superb average of 70.43.

In October 2013, Sachin Tendulkar retired from international cricket after playing his 200th Test match at his hometown in Mumbai. He ended his 24 years long career with 34,347 runs and 100 international centuries.

Currently, he is a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee set up by BCCI.

#5 Sourav Ganguly

Affectionately called as Dada by Indian cricket fans, Sourav Ganguly is widely regarded by many cricket pundits and fans as one of the greatest captains in the history of Indian cricket.

Dada led India to the finals of World Cup 2003 with his aggressive brand of captaincy. As a leader, he was influential in India winning Test matches in overseas conditions.

Despite beginning the four match Test series on a good note, Ganguly had a disappointing game in the 3rd Test match at Perth. He could score just 9 runs in the first innings and was dismissed for a duck in the second innings.

Ganguly retired from international cricket in October 2008, thereby ending his 16 years long international career with more than 18000 international runs and 38 hundreds to his name in all formats of the game.

Currently, Ganguly is President of the Cricket Association of Bengal, and also one of the four members of the IPL Governing Council.

#6 VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman's name will forever be associated with one of the finest innings in Test match cricket, a superb 281 which helped India complete a come from behind victory against Steve Waugh's all conquering Australian team at Eden Gardens in 2001.

During his playing days, Laxman was the saviour of Indian Test team. He had the ability to win or save Test matches for India by battling it out with the lower order batsmen. The Australian team in particular have suffered the most at the hands of Laxman's willow.

In India's match winning Perth Test, Laxman had a great game with bat and was India's top scorer in the second innings with 79 runs. With 366 runs at an average of 45.75, he was India's second highest run scorer in the four match Test series behind Sachin Tendulkar.

VVS Laxman retired from international cricket in January 2012. He currently works as a cricket analyst and is a member of CAC set up by BCCI.

#7 MS Dhoni (WK)

The most successful captain of Indian cricket, MS Dhoni had a pretty decent game in the third Test match at Perth. He scored a crucial 38 runs in the second innings and also put on a crucial 75 runs partnership for the seventh wicket with VVS Laxman.

Dhoni made his ODI debut for India in December 2004 against Bangladesh and made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in December 2005. He is the only player in the history of international cricket to have won all the ICC Tournaments as a captain, and is widely regarded by many cricket pundits and fans as the best finisher in the limited overs format.

Although Dhoni retired from Test cricket in December 2014, he still continues to play in ODIs and T20Is for India.

#8 Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan will go down in Indian cricketing history books as the biggest lost opportunity for Indian cricket. When he debuted, he impressed every cricket experts and fans with his superb ability to swing the ball both ways at a good speed.

Pathan's abilities with ball were such that he was compared to the likes of Wasim Akram of Pakistan, and when his batting improved, he was touted as the next Kapil Dev of Indian cricket.

Sadly, Irfan Pathan failed to live up to the standards he created during the early stage of his career and lost his place in Indian team due to frequent injuries and poor form. He last played for India in October 2012.

Such has been Irfan Pathan's disappearance from Indian cricket, that he was included in the list of "India's lost boys" by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

In India's match winning Perth Test, Pathan was the chief architect behind India's win and was awarded the Player of the Match trophy for his superb all round performance. He scored crucial 28 and 46 runs in the 1st and 2nd innings respectively and picked up 5 wickets in the match with the ball.

Currently, Irfan Pathan plays for Jammu and Kashmir in the domestic circuit and is also their mentor.

#9 Anil Kumble (C)

Famously known as Jumbo, Anil Kumble was the skipper of the Indian Test team during India's last Test win in Australia at Perth. Kumble had a decent match as he picked up 4 wickets. In fact, he was India's highest wicket taker in the four match Test series with 20 wickets.

He is one of the greatest leg spinners to have ever played the game of cricket, and is the third highest wicket taker in the Test format with 619 wickets, behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.

Kumble retired from international cricket in November 2008. Post retirement, Anil Kumble also served as coach of Indian cricket team from 2016-2017 and currently works as a commentator and cricket analyst.

#10 RP Singh

Just like Irfan Pathan, RP Singh is another Indian left-arm pacer who faded away after a promising start to his cricketing career.

In India's match winning Perth Test, RP Singh had a superb game as he took 4 wickets in the 1st innings and 2 wickets in the second innings and had a combined bowling figures of 35.5-6-163-6.

Also, while batting at No.10, he scored a crucial 30 runs in the second innings to help India set a target of 412 runs, which Aussies failed to chase down.

After the completion of the 4 match Test series, RP Singh lost his place in the Indian team due to frequent injuries he used to suffer, and finally retired from international cricket this year in September 2018 at a young age of 32.

Currently, he works as a commentator and cricket analyst.

#11 Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma is the only member from India's last Test match win in Australia, who is still a part of Indian Test team.

In fact, the third Test match at the Perth was the game which made Ishant Sharma a household name. His rhythmic high-arm action at quick pace troubled the legendary Ricky Ponting in the second innings of the particular Test match.

Although he could fetch only three wickets in the match, his spell to Ricky Ponting led the former Australian skipper Steve Waugh call him as the next big thing in Indian cricket.

Sadly, Ishant could never manage to do justice to the potential in him and lost his place in Indian ODI and T20 team by the end of 2013 due to his tendency to leak runs in death overs on regular basis.

Despite his inconsistency in shorter formats, he continues to be an integral member of the Indian Test squad and is set to tour Australia for the fourth time in his cricketing career.

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Edited by Kumud Ranjan