India will take on Australia in the first Test at Optus Stadium in Perth starting November 22. It has been confirmed that regular captain Rohit Sharma will not play the match and will be replaced by spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024. The pacer will be among a few bowlers who have led the Asian side in a Test series in Australia, besides the likes of Bishan Singh Bedi (1977-78), Kapil Dev (1985-86) and Anil Kumble (2007-08). Barring these few players, it has been batters who have captained India in Tests Down Under. Some of them scored centuries that played a defining role in the series, but the three-figure knock of only one Indian captain, Ajinkya Rahane, went on to give his team a Test victory on Australian soil.

Here we take a look at five top hundreds scored by Indian captains in a Test match in Australia since 1947-48 when the country first went Down Under.

1. Ajinkya Rahane 112 in Melbourne 2020-21; India won

Ajinkya Rahane, who as the vice-captain was overshadowed mainly by Virat Kohli’s charisma and on-field exploits, achieved something incredible as the national captain in the 2020-21 series against Australia. After India were hammered in the first match in Adelaide, where they folded for a paltry 36 and lost the game by eight wickets, regular skipper Kohli returned home for personal reasons. The responsibility fell on Rahane, who was the vice-captain, and a downhill slide from there could have ended his international career. The second Test was in Melbourne, where the wicket is known to be quick. In the Boxing Day game, India bowled Australia out for 195 but were reduced to 64 for 3 when Rahane took the fight to the opponents. He kept on knitting partnerships with other batters, slammed his 12th Test hundred, and added 121 crucial runs with Ravindra Jadeja (57) to take a healthy 99-run lead over the hosts. India ended up on 326, thanks to a collapse after Rahane got run out on 112 off 223 balls (12 boundaries), but the 131-run lead proved to be crucial for India to win the game by eight wickets and level the series 1-1. Rahane later led India to win the fourth and final Test in Brisbane to give his side a 2-1 series victory.

2. Sourav Ganguly 144 in Brisbane 2003-04; game drawn

This knock goes down as one of the finest played by any Indian batter in Australia. As is always the case with Australia’s strategy, they targeted the skipper with the late Shane Warne, saying Ganguly would be facing a lot of “chin music” on a bouncy track at The Gabba. In the first Test, which was drawn as rain played spoilsport, Ganguly chose to make his bat talk and played a sublime knock of 144 off 196 balls that was studded with 18 boundaries. Eighty-nine of his runs came on the off side, where he was called the second-best only to God, and his innings remained a fairy tale for those who appreciate butter-smooth cover drives from a batter. India took a crucial 86-run lead in the first essay, and Ganguly’s knock went on to energize the Indian side for the entire series, which it drew 1-1. It was almost two decades since India drew a Test series in Australia.

3. Virat Kohli 141 in Adelaide in 2014-15; India lost

It was the special coronation of Virat Kohli as India’s Test captain in the first match at the Adelaide Oval in 2014-15 after Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed out owing to a thumb injury. India were in a great position to win the match and take a 1-0 lead as they were in a commanding position of 242 for 2 while chasing 364 with Kohli (141 off 175 balls; 16 fours and one six) and Murali Vijay (99) adding 185 runs for the third wicket. But off-spinner Nathan Lyon engineered a collapse with seven wickets as the visitors slumped to 315 all out to lose by 48 runs. The game was a special one for Kohli as he also hit a ton (115) in the first innings to take his side close to Australia’s 517/7 declared. Australia had four centuries in the match, with David Warner also slamming two, but Kohli’s special effort remains a cherished memory for the Indian fans even today, even though it was eclipsed by Lyon’s 12-wicket haul.

4. Sachin Tendulkar 116 in Melbourne in 1999-2000; India lost

After getting hammered by Australia by 285 runs in the first Test, an inexperienced Indian side was looking up to the captain since it was the first trip Down Under for many in the side. The hosts had to produce a much better performance in the second game in Melbourne to stay alive in the three-game series. But they were in for yet another batting collapse after the hosts put up a total of 405. Tendulkar stood strong and added 77 runs with Sourav Ganguly for the fourth wicket but India were reduced to 169 for 8, putting them in the danger of facing an embarrassing follow-on. But as long as Tendulkar was there, the Indian fans could feel that not everything was lost. He went on to score his third ton on Australian soil since his twin shows in the 1991-92 series. His 116 off 191 balls (nine fours, one six) saw a follow-on-saving 43-run partnership with Anil Kumble (28 not out) and India ended on 238. The 167-run lead proved to be decisive as India lost the game by 180 runs, with Tendulkar’s player-of-the-match award coming as the visiting side’s consolation.

5. Mohammed Azharuddin 106 in Adelaide in 1991-92; India lost

For one of India’s most stylish batters, the 1991-92 series Down Under came as a nightmare. While his team lost two of the first three Test matches, his personal form was also poor. Having managed just 51 runs in six innings, Mohammed Azharuddin needed to salvage some pride to retain his respect in the cricketing fraternity, and his time came in the second innings in the fourth match at the Adelaide Oval. After narrowly missing out on forcing a win in the third match in Sydney, India came out with a renewed zeal to bundle out a robust Australian batting line-up for 145. But India also slumped, and it was the tail that took them to 225 to give an 80-run lead. Australia came up with a much stronger show in the second innings, posting a total of 451, setting a target of 372 for the Indians to make the series 2-1. When Azharuddin came out to bat at No.6, one position down from his more familiar No.5, India were reeling at 102-4. He launched a counterattack, adding 70 runs with Sanjay Manjrekar (45) for the fifth wicket and 101 runs with Manoj Prabhakar (64) for the seventh wicket, which meant India required less than 100 runs to win the match. But the captain’s dismissal in the bowling of the wrecker-in-chief Craig McDermott (5 for 92) pegged back the visitors’ chances, and despite Prabhakar’s valiant efforts, India were all out for 333, losing by just 38 runs.