Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has picked Sachin Tendulkar‘s iconic 241 as his most memorable knock from an India-Australia encounter. With the two cricket giants set to clash in November and December 2024, Cummins was asked to pick his most memorable knock by an Indian from prior Border-Gavaskar series. However, Cummins picked Tendulkar’s innings ahead of some other memorable knocks, such as Rishabh Pant‘s iconic 89 in Gabba, VVS Laxman‘s legendary 281 in 2001 or Virat Kohli‘s valiant 141 in Adelaide.
Speaking to Star Sports, Cummins c said, “The only one I can remember is Sachin Tendulkar’s.”
“All I remember was thinking ‘geez, this guy’s hard to get out but geez, it’s boring’,” Cummins added cheekily.
Tendulkar’s 241, scored in Sydney in the fourth Test of India’s tour to Australia in 2004, is one of his most iconic innings.
Attempting to remove his chances of getting out trying to play cover drives, Tendulkar scored almost his entire 241 on the on-side, refusing to hit a single cover drive the entire innings.
India-Australia encounters have been witness to several terrific knocks by Indians. The most memorable to several fans would be Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 89 as India clinched a 2-1 series win over Australia in 2020/21.
VVS Laxman’s 281 in Kolkata, where India won despite being asked to follow-on, also was not Cummins’ pick. Laxman and Rahul Dravid had batted the entirety of Day 4 in that Test in 2001, as India came back from 0-1 down to win the series 2-1.
Adelaide has been the venue of two memorable India knocks against Australia. Rahul Dravid struck a sensational 233 in a winning effort in 2003, while Virat Kohli scored twin centuries there in 2014, in what was his first Test as captain of India.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is set to kick off on November 22.