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When was the first Border Gavaskar Trophy match played, and who won the contest?

Taking a stroll down memory lane to visit the start of cricket's iconic rivalries as the Border Gavaskar Trophy was played for the first time in 1996

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Border Gavaskar Trophy (Source-Archive)

Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border were two of the greatest batters of their era. Former Indian star Sunil Gavaskar became the first man to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Allan Border, who had retired from the sport in 1994, broke that record to score 11,174 runs in Test cricket. That record stood for 14 years before Sachin Tendulkar overtook it. 

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In 1996, it was decided that both legends of the game would be immortalized in a unique way. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Australian Cricket Board (now known as Cricket Australia) decided to name the future India vs Australia series after the two legends. 

On 10th October 1996, the Border Gavaskar Trophy came into existence. Australia were already in India for a Tri-series with India and South Africa as the other teams. New Delhi was the venue as both India and Australia embarked on the start of one of the most heated battles in cricket history. 

Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy debut heralds the start of the huge rivalry

Team India were led by Sachin Tendulkar who at the age of 23 was being given the reins of the national side. Mark Taylor won the toss and chose to bat first on a dry Delhi surface that saw the visitors get bowled out for just 182. Michael Slater’s 44 was the best score for Australia, while Anil Kumble picked four wickets with Sunil Joshi and Aashish Kapoor taking 2 wickets each. 

In reply, India were bowled out for 361 with Nayan Mongia batting for 497 minutes to score 152 runs. India’s wicketkeeper scored his runs off 366 balls with 18 fours and a six. This was also the first ever century in the history of the Border Gavaskar trophy. 

During his chat with Times of India, the former Indian star said, “I was told well in advance that I’m going to open the innings. I knew how to play the new ball from junior cricket and Ranji trophy so I had some idea. I was well prepared not well prepared to get 100 or 150! Otherwise, my job was to make sure the new ball gets old.”

The match marked the debut of Brad Hogg for Australia and David Johnson for India. it was another spinner who turned the tide for the visitors. In the absence of Shane Warne, it was Peter McIntrye who did the damage with the ball. Then aged 30, McIntrye playing his 2nd and final Test got 3/103 and one of his wickets was Sachin Tendulkar for 10. Mark Waugh took the catch in the slips as the crowd went into stunned silence. 

Yet another debutant was David Johnson of India who was known to bowl with quick speeds. The right-arm pacer went wicketless in the first innings but made a memorable impact in the second essay. Johnson bowled a ball way outside off-stump to Michael Slater. The Aussie batter took the bait and edged the ball to Mohammad Azharuddin who took a fine one-handed catch. 

Australia were bowled out for 234 in their second innings with Steve Waugh not out on 67. The former skipper batted for 273 minutes and faced 221 balls with five hits to the fence. Anil Kumble picked yet another fifer as he ended with 5/67 from his 41 overs. 

Chasing 56 to win, India was placed at 26/3 with Paul Reiffel dismissing openers Vikram Rathour and Nayan Mongia. Glenn McGrath got Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar for a duck. Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin scored 21 each with the latter taking just 12 balls as India won the match by 7 wickets. 

Sachin Tendulkar Indian Cricket Team Ricky Ponting Border Gavaskar Trophy Glenn McGrath