The

Australian national cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...

toured

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the winter of 1959-60. The two teams played five

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, with Australia winning two, India winning one, and two others being drawn. The Australians also played several matches against domestic Indian squads. At the time of its arrival in India, the Australian cricket team was acclaimed as the strongest side in the world, having won 11 of its last 16 Tests and lost none. In the years just prior, they had not only defeated India, but also

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

as well. The confident Aussies, led by captain

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game. Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending l ...

, featured such names as

Neil Harvey Robert Neil Harvey (born 8 October 1928) is an Australian former cricketer who was a member of the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement. ...

Norm O'Neill Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressin ...

Ray Lindwall Raymond Russell Lindwall (3 October 1921 – 23 June 1996) was a cricketer who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He also played top-flight rugby league f ...

, and

Ian Meckiff Ian Meckiff (born 6 January 1935) is a former cricketer who represented Australia national cricket team, Australia in 18 test cricket, Test matches between 1957 and 1963. A left-arm Fast bowling, fast bowler, he is best known for two matters tha ...

among others. Meanwhile, India had dropped 11 of its last 13 Tests, including humbling defeats at the hands of Australia, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, and England, and had not won a single one. The Indians seemed to be struggling with every aspect of the game – batting, bowling, and fielding – not to mention leadership and the maintenance of a "fighting spirit." Hence, this series between Benaud's Australians and

Gulabrai Ramchand Gulabrai Sipahimalani "Ram" Ramchand (26 July 1927 – 8 September 2003) was an Indian cricketer, cricket coach and administrator who played for the national team in 33 Test matches between 1952 and 1960. In his only series as captain, he led ...

's Indian team had a true David vs. Goliath nature to it.

Touring party

(''captain'') *

(''vice captain'') * Peter Burge * Alan Davidson *

Ken Mackay Kenneth Donald Mackay (24 October 1925 – 13 June 1982) was an Australian cricketer who played in 37 Test matches between 1956 and 1963. Biography He was universally known as "Slasher", an ironic reference to his often back-to-the-wall battin ...

Barry Jarman Barrington Noel Jarman (17 February 193617 July 2020) was an Australian Test cricketer and International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee. Jarman played in 19 Test matches for the Australian cricket team between 1959 and 1969, including on ...

* Colin McDonald *

* Les Favell *

Wally Grout Arthur Theodore Wallace Grout (30 March 1927 – 9 November 1968), known as Wally Grout, was a Test cricketer who kept wicket for Australia and Queensland. Grout played in 51 Test matches between 1957 and 1966. He made his Test debut against S ...

Lindsay Kline Lindsay Francis Kline (29 September 1934 – 2 October 2015) was an Australian cricketer. He played in 13 Test matches for Australia and 88 first-class matches between 1955/56 and 1961/62. He was a left-arm spin bowler, bowling left-arm un ...

Gordon Rorke Gordon Frederick Rorke (born 27 June 1938) is a former Australian cricketer who played in four Test matches in 1959. Rorke made his Test debut in January 1959 in the Fourth Test of The Ashes series against England in Adelaide. It was an impres ...

* Gavin Stevens

Test matches

1st Test

2nd Test

The second Test at Kanpur was notable for being India's first-ever Test victory over the Australians. Indian

off-spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

ner

Jasu Patel Jasubhai Motibhai Patel (26 November 1924 – 12 December 1992) was an off-spinner who played Test cricket for India. Early days At the age of ten, he broke his arm falling from a tree. Because of this injury he had a jerky bowling action, whi ...

distinguished himself, taking 14 wickets in the match (nine wickets in the first innings and five in the second). He would go on to take 19 wickets in the series.

3rd Test

4th Test

5th Test

Tour matches

Three-day: Indian Board President's XI v Australians

Three-day: Indian Universities v Australians

References

External links

Tour home
at

ESPN Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian cricket team in India in 1959-60 1959 in Australian cricket 1959 in Indian cricket 1960 in Australian cricket 1960 in Indian cricket 1959-60 Indian cricket seasons from 1945–46 to 1969–70 International cricket competitions from 1945–46 to 1960