Vote for India's best performance in Australia in the 21st century - Kumble in Sydney vs Kohli in Perth

As we build towards the upcoming five-Test series, ESPNcricinfo, Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar invite you to help us identify India’s best individual Border-Gavaskar Trophy performances in Australia in the 21st century. We shortlisted 16 performances and compared them against each other. All you have to do now is vote to send one of the following to the quarter-finals.

Anil Kumble – 8-141 and 4-138 in Sydney, 2004

Match draw, series draw 1-1

Anil KumbleHis ability to win matches was undisputed at home, but he had not built a comparable reputation abroad. This Australia tour was an opportunity to improve that aspect of his game. After starting the tour on the bench, he replaced an injured Harbhajan Singh in the second Test. By the time the final match at the SCG started, with the series level at 1-1, Kumble had bowled the most overs by an Indian bowler and taken a five-for in the famous win in Adelaide.

In Sydney, after India posted 705 in the first innings, Kumble bowled 46.5 overs and took 8 for 141his second-best distance after his perfect ten, and gave India a lead of 231, which they extended to 442 before announcing late on the fourth day.

With another 42 overs in Australia’s second innings, Kumble then took 4 for 138 – his match haul of 12 was his best abroad – but India were only able to take six wickets in total, falling agonizingly short of what would have been their first win of the series.

Watch highlights of these performances on the Star Sports network at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm IST, starting October 25.

Virat Kohli – 123 in Perth, 2018

India lost by 146 runs, series level 1-1

Virat Kohli was already one of India’s best hitters before 2018. That year he stepped up to an even rarer level, scored 1322 points with an average of 55.08 over 24 innings, of which 22 in South Africa, England and Australia.

The conditions in all three tours were tough for the batters, but the more challenging they became, the more Kohli seemed to enjoy it. When he walked in to bat in Pertheverything must have looked familiar. India had lost the toss and conceded a bigger total than they should have, bowling well but not without periods of releasing pressure. Then they lost early wickets.

In similar circumstances, Kohli had scored 153 at Centurion and 149 at Edgbaston. Now, at 8 for 2, he played an even better innings. This was a real trampoline of a field, and Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins routinely got the ball back, throat-high, from distance. Kohli negotiated the vertical threat expertly, but not without taking blows to the arm and ribs, but the standout feature of his innings was how well he dealt with Australia’s attempts to suck him in with full balls after pushing him back.

Almost every time there was an opportunity to drive, he did so impeccably, across the ground or through the covers with a decisive forefoot step. A 20th century version of this list would undoubtedly have included this Sachin Tendulkar’s 114 in Perth in 1992. Kohli’s innings came at the Perth Stadium and not the WACA, and just as the new ground seamlessly continued the legacy of pace and bounce of the old, a new master had passed on the legacy of an old master.

Voting closes on October 28 at 11pm IST. The winner of this match-up will be determined based on the total votes cast in polls conducted on ESPNcricinfo, Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar platforms.