On this day in 2008: India secure a sensational victory in the Perth Test

14 years ago, on January 19, 2008, India, under the leadership of Anil Kumble, had scripted a stunning victory in the third Test of the four-match series against Australia at WACA Ground in Perth by a massive 72 runs to make a statement after two cricketing superpowers India and Australia were involved in one of the most controversial scandals, known as Monkeygate Scandal.

Playing in the second match at Sydney Cricket Ground, Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh were involved in a terrible mix up in the middle. The Australian all-rounder had accused the Indian seamer of making racial comments on him. Symonds had stated that Harbhajan called him a ‘monkey’.

Thus, the authorities fined Harbhajan with level 3 charge and he was banned for three Tests as well as 50% of his match fees was deducted as penalty. This didn’t go well with the Indian side and it created an uproar in the cricket fraternity as the visitors decided to walk-out of the marquee series. Thus, the International Cricket Council (ICC) finally decided to set up a jury that freed Harbhajan from the charges on the basis of observation made by Sachin Tendulkar.

After the controversy in the second game, there was high tension between the two teams in the third match which commenced with the visitors winning the toss and opting to bat first. However, India had decided to leave Harbhajan out of the playing XI as they were more interested in going with just one primary spinner in Perth.

Batting in the first innings, India racked up a total of 330 on the board on the back of 91 runs scored by Rahul Dravid. For Australia, pacer Mitchell Johnson was the pick of the bowler with 4 wickets.

In front of India’s 331-run total, the hosts were bundled out for a paltry total of 212 within 50 overs as RP Singh took a four-wicket haul. Andrew Symonds was the highest run-getter for his team with a knock of 66 runs off 70 deliveries.

This was a low scoring affair as the bowlers dominated the show. The third innings saw India adding 294 runs to the scoreboard as VVS Laxman hammered 79 runs while Irfan also added 46 runs to the scoreboard. Thus, Australia had to score a whopping 412 runs to clinch the game.

However, Pathan produced a scintillating show with the ball as he took three-wicket haul in the fourth innings. Anil Kumble, RP Singh and part-time bowler Virender Sehwag also took two wickets each to restrict Australia to a total of 340 runs and register a victory in the match by 72 runs.

With this victory, India had not only scripted an amazing comeback after the Sydney controversy but had also managed to keep their hopes alive in the four-match series. However, the last match resulted in a draw and Australia won the marquee series by 2-1.