After the T20I series defeat the Indian cricket team is all set to lock horns with Australia in the ODI series starting from Saturday, March 2. The clean sweep in the T20Is is Virat Kohli first-ever series defeat at home in any format so he might be looking to take revenge from the mighty Australians.
In the past few months, the Men in Blue are in quite a good touch in one-day cricket as they beat South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in their own den in ODI series.
At home, India have been a dominating force under Kohli's leadership and after the series loss, the visitors might give them a tough challenge ahead. The five-match ODI series is being considered as India's final puzzle before the ODI World Cup in June.
Australia have always been good competitors against India and whether at home or away, they have their own rivalry and its quite tough to pick one team over the other in the format.
Looking at the statistics, Aussies are one of the sides who troubled India the most in home conditions. In the 56 matches both countries have played against each other at Indian soil the Kangaroos have a slight edge over the Asian giants. Australia have won 26 matches while India are just one behind. But the tables have turned this time as the Aussies are not that strong as they were in the past but the series win will surely give the latter some extra boost after India hammered them earlier this year.
Here is a brief review of the previous four Australian tours of India:
India vs Australia 2017
The last time when the Aussies travelled to these shores they got a brutal 1-4 beating by the hosts. It was a breakout series for all-rounder Hardik Pandya as he won the Man of the Series trophy for his exceptional performance with both bat and ball. The series will also be remembered for Kohli's feat of becoming the fastest to score 6000 runs in ODIs. India dominated the whole series with Australia winning the only match in M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
India vs Australia 2013
This was a time when the Men in Blue were starting to build their squad for the 2015 ODI World Cup. In the seven-match series, the hosts topped the chart with a 3-2 win while two matches were abandoned. India's top-3's (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli) domination started from this series, as they were on fire in this series. Rohit was Man of the Series for an aggregate of 491 runs at an average of 122.75. It was also a memorable series for Kohli as he scored the fastest 100 for India in 51 balls.
India vs Australia 2010
It was a launchpad for India for their glorious 2011 World Cup triumph. The three match-series was cut short to only one after the first and third ODI got abandoned. Kohli's marathon innings in Visakhapatnam guided India to win the lone match and the series. Kohli scored 118 runs which include 11 four and one six. After that series, India next faced Australia at home in 2011 WC quarterfinals when the hosts won to break the latter's dominance in the big-ticket event which they were winning for the past three times (1999, 2003 and 2007).
India vs Australia 2009/10
This was the last time when India lost the series to Australia at home. It was a seven-match ODI series where one match was called off due to rain and the Kangaroos dominated the hosts by 4-2 series win. Shane Watson was the MVP of the series for Australia in the dominating show throughout the tour. He scored 256 runs at an average of 42.66 and was also handy with ball by picking up 10 wickets. In the first three matches the visitors were trailing by 2-1 but later they fought back and clinch the series. The fifth ODI of the series will be remembered for great Sachin Tendulkar's one of the iconic innings which actually went in vain. While chasing the humongous target of 351, Tendulkar scored 175 runs but India fell short of just three runs.
