Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23: India Win 2-1 — Joint Player of Series Ashwin 25 Wickets + Jadeja 22 Wickets, Todd Murphy 7/124 on Debut Nagpur, Kohli 186 Ahmedabad

India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 by 2-1, retaining the trophy. 4 Tests: Nagpur (India won by innings and 132 runs — AUS 177 & 91; IND 400; Rohit 120; Jadeja 5/47; Ashwin 5/37; Todd Murphy 7/124 on debut; PoM Jadeja), Delhi (India won 6 wickets — AUS 263 & 113; IND 262 & 118/4; Jadeja 7/42 career best; Lyon 5/67; PoM Jadeja), Indore (Australia won 9 wickets — IND 109 & 163; AUS 197 & 78/1; Kuhnemann 5/16 debut; Lyon 8/64 career best; PoM Lyon), Ahmedabad (Draw — AUS 480 & 175/2d; IND 571; Khawaja 180; Kohli 186; Cameron Green maiden century; Ashwin 6/91; PoM Kohli). Joint Player of Series: Ashwin (25 wickets) and Jadeja (22 wickets). Rohit Sharma captained India all 4 Tests; Pat Cummins captained Australia in Tests 1-2, Steve Smith in Tests 3-4.

Todd Murphy 7/124 on Debut at Nagpur: First Australian Spinner to Take a Debut Five-Fer Since Nathan Lyon

Todd Murphy — on his Test debut at VCA Stadium, Nagpur — taking 7/124 against India's 400 (the only innings India batted in the 1st Test) became the first Australian spinner to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut since Nathan Lyon himself, and one of the most impactful debut bowling performances by a spinner against India in India conditions. Murphy's 7 wickets from India's 10 dismissals in their Nagpur innings — conceding 124 runs across the overs he bowled against India's 400 — came in a match where India's total had already put the game beyond Australia: India's 400 giving them a 223-run lead over Australia's 177 1st innings, before Jadeja and Ashwin dismissed Australia for 91 in their 2nd innings (their lowest Test total in India at that point). Murphy's debut 7/124 at Nagpur — his only appearance in the 4-Test series (he did not play Tests 2 or 3, returning for Test 4 at Ahmedabad for 3/113) — confirmed that his off-spin in Indian conditions had shown the bilateral promise that his debut performance's wicket tally demonstrated, despite the Test result (India winning by an innings and 132 runs) being decided by Jadeja and Ashwin's dismissal of Australia for 91.

Jadeja 7/42 Career Best and Australia's 91 All Out: India's Dominant First Two Tests

Ravindra Jadeja's career-best 7/42 in the 2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi — dismissing five Australian batters bowled in the same match (the first bowler to achieve that feat in over 20 years) against Australia's 2nd innings 113 all out — gave India a 6-wicket win that followed their Nagpur innings victory and put them 2-0 up after the first two Tests. Jadeja's bilateral bowling across the 1st Test Nagpur (5/47 in Australia's 1st innings 177) and the 2nd Test Delhi (7/42 in Australia's 2nd innings) — producing 12 wickets in India's first two Test wins — confirmed the left-arm spin match-winner that Jadeja's career-best Delhi figures exemplified: the Nagpur and Delhi surfaces (Indian sub-continent conditions that turned significantly) giving Jadeja the pitch assistance that his career-best 7/42 capitalized on. Nathan Lyon — taking 5/67 in Delhi's 2nd innings while also passing his 100th wicket against India in the same match — gave Australia's bilateral bowling a series milestone that their bilateral result (2-0 down after Delhi) could not reflect: Lyon's 100th wicket against India confirming his career landmark despite Australia's innings-and-6-wicket combination deficit across the first two Tests.

Lyon 8/64 at Indore: Australia's First India Win Since 2017, Series Stays Alive

Nathan Lyon's career-best 8/64 in the 3rd Test at Holkar Stadium, Indore — taking 8 of India's wickets across both innings (India 109 & 163, both dismissed by a combination of Lyon's off-spin and Matthew Kuhnemann's left-arm spin) — produced Australia's 9-wicket win, their first Test win in India since 2017, and kept the series alive at 2-1 going into the 4th Test at Ahmedabad. Kuhnemann's 5/16 on debut — the left-arm spinner's debut match bowling average in a Test where Indore's pitch turned sharply and India's batting (which had dominated in Nagpur and Delhi) collapsed to 109 and 163 — confirmed the bilateral character reversal: Australia's Indore win (AUS 197 & 78/1; IND 109 & 163) being the Test that Steve Smith (captaining in Tests 3-4, with Cummins absent) oversaw after Pat Cummins had captained in Nagpur and Delhi. Australia winning at Indore also confirmed their WTC Final qualification regardless of the 4th Test result — the Indore win giving Australia the points they needed for the Final.

BGT 2022-23 in Context

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 — India winning 2-1 (Nagpur innings win, Delhi 6 wkts, Indore lost 9 wkts, Ahmedabad draw) with joint Player of Series Ashwin (25 wickets) and Jadeja (22 wickets), Murphy's 7/124 debut Nagpur, Jadeja's 7/42 career best Delhi, Kuhnemann's 5/16 debut Indore, Lyon's 8/64 career best Indore, Kohli's 186 and Khawaja's 180 in Ahmedabad — produced the last BGT bilateral that India won before Australia's 2024-25 series victory (Australia won 3-1 in Australia in 2024-25 to regain the trophy). The 2022-23 BGT confirmed India's home bilateral strength (their 8th consecutive home Test series win against Australia to that point) while also confirming Australia's bilateral improvement in India conditions: Murphy's debut, Kuhnemann's debut, and Lyon's career-best all showing that Australia's spin resources for Indian sub-continent conditions had developed sufficiently to produce the Indore 9-wicket win that kept the bilateral competitive before Ahmedabad's drawn conclusion.