IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test: Australia defeated India in the IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 by 184 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). By winning the 4th Test, Australia went 2-1 up in the five-match series. This comes as India's first Boxing Day Test loss against Australia in 13 years. With the loss, India’s chances of qualifying to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle took a serious hit.
India took only 10 balls to wrap up the Australian innings on the morning of Day 5 as Jasprit Bumrah took the 30th wicket of the series and got rid of Nathan Lyon, ending the 61-run stand between Lyon and Scott Boland. Australia got all out for 234 and set India the stern target of 340 runs to achieve in the fourth innings of the Boxing Day Test.
Indian Batters Fail To Eke Out Draw At MCG
India started the chase watchfully as they fended off the new-ball challenge presented by the Aussie pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland. However, Cummins bowled a game changing over to strike twice within six balls, getting rid of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to turn the game up on its head. Virat Kohli soon followed as he continued to struggle with the off-side stump line.
While India were 33-3 at one stage, Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal joined hands with an 88-run partnership, making a draw a real possibility for the visitors. However, facing Travis Head after Tea on Day 5, Pant played a rash shot, giving the Aussies an opening. From then on, the Australian bowling line-up was relentless and soon bundled Indians up for 155 runs, winning the crucial MCG Test by 184 runs.
Here's the moment Australia clinched victory at MCG:
WTC 2023-25 Points Table After IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test At MCG, Melbourne
| Pos | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | NR | Points | PCT |
| 1 | South Africa | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 66.67% |
| 2 | Australia | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 118 | 61.46% |
| 3 | India | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 114 | 52.78% |
| 4 | New Zealand | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 48.21% |
| 5 | Sri Lanka | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 45.45% |
| 6 | England | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 114 | 43.18% |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 31.25% |
| 8 | Pakistan | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 30.30% |
| 9 | West Indies | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 24.24% |
India’s PCT% has dropped from 55.88 to 52.78 in the WTC 2023-25 points table. On the other hand, a second win in the BGT has boosted Australia’s PCT% from 58.89 to 61.46.