What is Boxing Day Test? Here’s a look at India’s record in the Boxing Day Test

The five-match Test series between India and Australia is set up beautifully after three games. Both teams have won a Test each with the third game at the Gabba in Brisbane ending in a draw. The fourth Test is set to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, starting December 26. It is a highly anticipated fixture during the Australian summer and is termed as the Boxing Day Test. Moreover, the tickets for the opening day of the Test match has already been sold out. 

What is the Boxing Day Test? Why is there so much excitement around this Test match? The Boxing Day Test is traditionally played annually at the iconic MCG on December 26. The Test match draws a massive crowd every year as it is a celebration of the culture in the country and also symbolises sporting excellence. 

Interestingly, the tradition was built gradually over time and earlier, it wasn’t an event. Back in 1865, a Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and New South Wales used to happen at the MCG with Boxing Day being one of the scheduled days of play. During the 1950-51 Ashes, the Melbourne Test was played from December 22 to 27 with the fourth day’s play falling on Boxing Day. The tradition of starting the Test match on Boxing Day began accidentally when Cricket Australia had to fix six Tests of the 1974-75 Ashes series during their home summer.

In that series, the third Test at Melbourne was scheduled to begin on Boxing Day. This match was the origin of the tradition. However, it was not until 1980 that the board formalized the event officially. Cricketers winning the player of the match in Boxing Day Tests also receive the Mullagh medal, named in honor of Indigenous Australian cricketer Johnny Mullagh.

As mentioned above, the Boxing Day Test draws a huge crowd, especially on the first day of the Test. The 2013 Ashes Test has drawn the biggest crowd in the history of Boxing Day Tests, with as many as 91,112 people attending the first day at the iconic MCG. The record attendance on Boxing Day involving India was 73,516 during the 2018-19 tour when Virat Kohli was the captain.

India’s record in the Boxing Day Test

So far, India have played nine Boxing Day Tests, with their first appearance coming in 1985. That Test match ended in a draw and India faced huge defeats in the next five such fixtures. Boxing Day fixtures have certainly been a challenge for India but not since 2014. Indialast lost a Boxing Day Test back in 2011. Since then, India have drawn the 2014 fixture and won the last two traditional fixtures by emphatic margins. The 2014 drawn Boxing Day Test is remembered fondly for MS Dhoni playing a fighting knock to draw the game. It also turned out to be the last Test of his illustrious career in whites.

As far as the last two Boxing Day Tests are concerned, India won by 137 runs in 2018 and by eight wickets in 2020. Jasprit Bumrah and Ajinkya Rahane won the Player of the Match award respectively in those two fixtures. Notably, the other Indian player to win the Mullagh medal in Boxing Day Tests is Sachin Tendulkar, who was the award despite India losing by 180 runs.

Tendulkar was the lone player to put up a fight for India in that Test. He was the only centurion in the game scoring 116 runs in the first innings and backing it up with 52 in the second. Jasprit Bumrah picked up nine wickets including a six-for in the first innings in 2018 to bag the Mullagh medal while Ajinkya Rahane, the stand-in captain then, slammed a first innings century to be honoured with the Player of the Match award in 2020.

With the ongoing Test series set up nicely at 1-1, it remains to be seen which player steps up for his team in the upcoming Boxing Day Test.