Best of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rahul Dravid's match-winning performance in Adelaide

India versus Australia has always been an enchanting rivalry. With the institution of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in 1996, a formalised plan for playing India-Australia cricket on a periodic basis had been created. 

The first series was a one-off match which was won easily by India, and it was Nayan Mongia who was declared the Man of the Match. Incredibly, this was not for his wicketkeeping but his batting, as Mongia smashed 152 in the first innings.

The latest instalment of the India-Australia rivalry begins with the first Test in Adelaide on December 4. Before this, India will also be playing two practice games. The biggest factor for India though, is that they are without any of their legends, who have all retired. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble have walked into the sunset, while Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh have not been picked for the series. 

Beginning today, we will be running a series on memorable moments from the Border-Gavaskar trophy throughout its history. While India has had several moments to cherish, there have also been some major disappointments.

Our first pick however, precipitated a monumentous occasion in India-Australia cricket history. It led to India's first Test win in Australia since 1981, and India went 1-0 up in a Test series in Australia, something completely unexpected.

Rahul Dravid has been the man for the occasion innumerable times in his career for India. However, while Dravid has been India's best ever batsman in England, he has generally struggled in South Africa and Australia.

In his first series in Australia in 1999-00, Dravid struggled mightily, scoring just 95 runs in six innings with a high score of 31. Come 2004 and India were back in Australia. This time though, they'd drawn the first Test in Brisbane after a fine 144 from captain Sourav Ganguly. Australia were also without their top pace bowler in Glenn McGrath, while Shane Warne was serving a one-year ban. The onus of the Australian attack thus fell on the likes of Brad Williams, Nathan Bracken and Stuart MacGill. No doubt India sensed an opportunity.

Come Adelaide and Australia, seething from the draw in the first Test, piled up 556. This could have been many more had Anil Kumble not run through the last three wickets without conceding a run. Ricky Ponting was the star, smashing 242. 

In response, India, after being 66/0, collapsed to 85/4. The entire top order had been blown away except for Dravid, who was joined by VVS Laxman.

The duo had created magic in Kolkata in 2001 and the stage was set for an encore. And deliver they did. After taking India to relative safety at 180/4 at the end of the second day, the duo began to play with ease on Day 3. By the time Laxman was out for 148, the pair had added 303 to take India out of the woods.

Fortunately, India's lower order didn't let up and Dravid managed to stay right till the end to help India post 523, becoming the last man to be out. In the process, he had scored a magnificent 233.

Now just 33 runs behind and time left in the game, India had nothing to lose. However, it was only Ajit Agarkar who managed to bowl really well on a reasonably good batting wicket. He dismissed Nos 1, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11, taking 6/41 in the process.

Sachin Tendulkar, out of form with the bat and not acknowleged with the ball, took two crucial wickets of Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh. Interestingly, Tendulkar had also taken 3 wickets during India's famous win in Kolkata two and a half years ago. Those three wickets had precipitated an Australian collapse after tea on Day 5, prior to which the match looked headed for a draw. Like in Kolkata, Tendulkar's efforts in Adelaide went unnoticed by many.

India however managed to bowl Australia out for 196, setting themselves 230 to win a historic Test match with over a day to go.

Sourav Ganguly's team did not make too many mistakes while batting this time around. Even so, the wicket was starting to favour the bowlers and no batsman really managed to convert a good start. No batsman, with the exception of Rahul Dravid.

Once the inscutable Aakash Chopra had fallen for a slow 20, Dravid took charge of the innings. Playing the anchor role, he saw Sehwag fall at the other end for 47, but then put together a 70-run stand with Tendulkar, who made 37. Dravid followed his customary approach, the one that always worked best for him - keep holding one end up and allow the others to score freely. After Tendulkar and Ganguly fell in quick succession, Dravid let the in-form Laxman take over. 

Laxman decided he had no patience for Stuart MacGill, the poor man's Shane Warne. MacGill combined good deliveries with rank full tosses at a crucial time, but even the good balls did not matter as Laxman found the boundary with ease. By the time he had played one shot too many, India were within 9 runs of victory.

Dravid then ensured that there was no dramatic collapse, and after Parthiv Patel fell, he hit the winning runs through extra cover, pumped his fist in the air and celebrated with Ajit Agarkar, India's other hero of the Test match. India had won a Test match in Australia after 22 years and the scenes were incredible. At that moment in time, India had their only realistic chance ever of achieving a series win in Australia, if they held on to their 1-0 lead. Sadly, a brilliant innings from Sehwag was undone by shoddy batting by the rest in the third Test, and Sourav Ganguly delayed the declaration for too long in the fourth, denying India a chance of a famous series win.

Dravid too, would never play as well against Australia again. There was 93 in Perth in the 2008 series, but it can be argued that it was overshadowed by a fluent 71 from Tendulkar and then a crucial 79 from Laxman in the second innings. 

Sachin Tendulkar could match, even better Rahul Dravid for fluency, Sehwag's innings were brutal and impactful and Laxman arguably played better that anyone with backs to the wall. Each of these batsmen were remarkably consistent on Australian tours except in 2011-12. However, no true fan of Indian cricket would ever forget that when Dravid put up his best performance on Australian soil, he led India to a pathbreaking victory.