Border Gavaskar Trophy: The number one Test team in the world was completely humiliated by the number two side in the red ball format.

India has started the series on a grand note as the men in blue won the first test match by a mammoth margin of an innings and 132 runs in Nagpur. Now the action shifts to New Delhi. 

The second Test match of the BGT 2023 (Border Gavaskar Trophy) will be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital from tomorrow, Friday 17th February 2023 to Tuesday, 21st February 2023.

The Aussies will aim for a comeback and improve their performance, especially with the bat in hand.

The number 10 players of the team are not batters but their main role is to bowl.

But still, there are some players at number ten from the men in blue side who have also contributed as a batter when the team has needed it the most.

India now has depth in their batting because the number 10th player also contributes. 

Today, in this segment, we shall reveal those three players from India who have their best scorers against the mighty Aussies at the number 10 batting position in Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).

Scoring runs against Australia has never been so easy and that is why it is an achievement for the number 10 players to score runs against such a mighty team.

1. Mohammed Shami

The pace bowler from the men in blue side stands first in the list. Shami scored vital 37 runs in the first Test match at Nagpur.

His partnership with Axar Patel was huge and it never allowed the Aussies to make a comeback in the first Test match at Nagpur.

Shami also went past Virat Kohli, the King of International Cricket in terms of hitting six in the red ball format.

Shami has smashed 25 sixes in Tests while King Kohli has just 24 sixes in the red ball format that too despite being a pure batter in the team.

2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has currently lost his place on the Test side of Team India. But he was an excellent swing bowler for the team.

Kumar was also a handy batter down the order. He has also scored a half-century in England. Bhuvi scored 38 runs against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy at a Test match in Chennai in 2013.

His 38 runs are the second-best for India as the number 10 batter against the Aussies.

But the Chennai test match is being remembered for MS Dhoni’s 224 run knock against Australia and many few know that Bhuvneshwar Kumar had also contributed in that match with the bat in hand. 

3. Harbhajan Singh

The former spin bowler of India Harbhajan Singh had scored 42 runs in the Test match at Bengaluru in the 2004 series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Bhajji’s 42 runs is the highest score by a number ten batter against The Aussies in BGT. But this knock from Singh had come in a losing cause as the Aussies won the match by 217 runs.

Bhajji was also the third-highest scorer in that second inning of India. After Sourav Ganguly’s 60 and Irfan Pathan’s 55, Harbhajan Singh scored vital 42 runs.

Still, India lost that match by a heavy margin and that was Australia’s last Test series win against India as well.

By: Kaushal Kowjalgi