Indian cricket team in Australia in 1977–78

Indian cricket team in Australia in 1977–78
Date	2 December 1977 – 3 February 1978
Location	Australia
Result	Australia won the 5-match series 3–2
Teams  Australia  India Captains Bob Simpson Bishan Bedi Most runs Bob Simpson (539) Gundappa Viswanath (473) Most wickets Wayne Clark (28) Bishan Bedi (31)
← 1967–68 Series 1980–81 Series →

The India national cricket team toured Australia in the 1977–78 season to play 5 Test matches. Australia won the test series 3-2. The matches were played at the same time as the first World Series Cricket matches.

Test series summary[]

First Test[]

2–6 December 1977 Scorecard

Australia	v	India
166 (46.7 overs) Peter Toohey 82 (142) Bishan Singh Bedi 5/55 (13.7 overs)		153 (50 overs) Dilip Vengsarkar 48 (115) Wayne Clark 4/46 (18 overs)
327 (91.5 overs) Bob Simpson 89 (269) Madan Lal 5/72 (19 overs)		324 (84.7 overs) Sunil Gavaskar 113 (264) Jeff Thomson 4/76 (19.7 overs)

Australia won by 16 runs Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Umpires: Tom Brooks (Aus) and Max O'Connell (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.

Second Test[]

16–21 December 1977 Scorecard

India	v	Australia
402 (79.6 overs) Mohinder Amarnath 90 (156) Jeff Thomson 4/101 (24 overs)		394 (118.6 overs) Bob Simpson 176 (355) Bishan Singh Bedi 5/89 (31 overs)
330/9d (73.5 overs) Sunil Gavaskar 127 (145) Sam Gannon 4/77 (18 overs)		342/8 (87.2 overs) Tony Mann 105 (165) Bishan Singh Bedi 5/105 (30.2 overs)

Australia won by 2 wickets WACA, Perth Umpires: Robin Bailhache (Aus) and Dick French (Aus)

• India won the toss and decided to bat.

Third Test[]

30 December 1977–4 January 1978 Scorecard

India	v	Australia
256 (69.2 overs) Mohinder Amarnath 72 (178) Wayne Clark 4/73 (19.2 overs)		213 (50.1 overs) Craig Serjeant 85 (170) Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 6/52 (14.1 overs)
343 (88.7 overs) Sunil Gavaskar 118 (285) Wayne Clark 4/96 (29 overs)		164 (51.1 overs) Gary Cosier 34 (55) Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 6/52 (20 overs)

India won by 222 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Dick French (Aus) and Max O'Connell (Aus)

• India won the toss and decided to bat.
• This was India's first Test win in Australia.^[1]

Fourth Test[]

7–12 January 1978 Scorecard

Australia	v	India
131 (49.4 overs) Bob Simpson 38 (99) Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 4/30 (15 overs)		396/8d (101 overs) Gundappa Viswanath 79 (182) Jeff Thomson 4/83 (27 overs)
263 (98.7 overs) Peter Toohey 85 (258) Erapalli Prasanna 4/51 (29 overs)

India won by an innings and 2 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Robin Bailhache (Aus) and Tom Brooks (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and decided to bat.

Fifth Test[]

28 January–3 February 1978 Scorecard

Australia	v	India
505 (112.4 overs) Graham Yallop 121 Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 5/136 (29.4 overs)		269 (82.2 overs) Gundappa Viswanath 89 (175) Wayne Clark 4/62 (20.7 overs)
256 (82.5 overs) Rick Darling 56 (122) Karsan Ghavri 4/45 (10.5 overs)		445 (141.4 overs) Mohinder Amarnath 86 Bruce Yardley 4/134 (43 overs)

Australia won by 47 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Dick French (Aus) and Max O'Connell (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and decided to bat
• Rick Darling, Bruce Yardley, Ian Callen and Graeme Wood (all Aus) made their Test debuts.

Annual reviews[]

• Playfair Cricket Annual 1978
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1978

Further reading[]

• Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
• Ramachandra Guha, A Corner of a Foreign Field - An Indian History of a British Sport, Picador, 2001

References[]

External sources[]

• India in Australia, 1977/78 at ESPNcricinfo archive
• India to Australia 1977-78 at test-cricket-tours.co.uk
• India in Australia 1977/78 at CricketArchive (subscription required)