The Boxing Day Test will be played between India and South Africa at Centurion from December 26. At the same time, the Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan is scheduled to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. But how did “boxing” come to cricket? What is the story of the Boxing Day Test? After all, why is the Boxing Day Test only taking place on December 26th? Today we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Boxing Day Test. We will also tell you what Team India’s record was in the Boxing Day Test.
Boxing Day is actually celebrated the day after Christmas, on December 26th. Boxing Day is celebrated in countries like the United Kingdom that were once part of the British Empire. The list of these countries includes many countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Nigeria, Trinidad-Tobago and South Africa.
It is believed that around 1800, during the reign of Queen Victoria, servants of lower British society received hand-picked gifts from their masters at Christmas. At the same time, these gifts were given the name “Christmas box”. Afterwards, this day became known as “Boxing Day”. Furthermore, the match taking place on that day was called the Boxing Day Test.
It began in domestic cricket before the Boxing Day Test match, the year was 1892… The Sheffield Shield tournament match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia at Christmas time. The teams from Victoria and New South Wales faced each other. The first International Boxing Day Test was then played between England and Australia in 1950. However, this test began on December 22nd instead of December 26th, the fifth day of the test was Boxing Day.
For the first time in 1968, the Test match began on Boxing Day. Since then, Australia has hosted a Boxing Day Test every year from December 26 since 1980. But it started three times before Christmas: 1984, 1988 and 1994. Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Stadium now hosts the Boxing Day Test every year. Apart from Australia, countries such as South Africa and New Zealand also hosted the Boxing Day Test.
On the other hand, if we talk about India, it played the Boxing Day Test against Australia for the first time in 1985. This test ended in a draw. The captain of this Indian team was Kapil Dev. Greg Mathews and Allan Border scored centuries for Australia. However, for Team India, Chris Srikkanth, Dilip Vengsakar and captain Kapil Dev had crossed the 50-run mark. After that, Team India managed to draw the game thanks to the brilliant bowling of Ravi Shastri and Shivlal Yadav.
The Boxing Day Test was played for the first time in 1992 between India and South Africa. So far both teams have played 6 Boxing Day Tests. Team India has won only two games while South Africa has won four games. However, the Indian team defeated South Africa by 113 runs in the Boxing Day Test match in 2021. Earlier in 2010, India had defeated South Africa by 87 runs in the Boxing Day Test match.
1985 – Australia vs. India (Melbourne) – Draw,
1987 – India vs West Indies (Kolkata) – Match drawn
1991 – Australia vs India (Melbourne) – AUS won by 8 wickets
1992 – South Africa vs India (Port Elizabeth) – South Africa won by 9 wickets
1996 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – South Africa won by 328 runs
1998 – New Zealand vs India (Wellington) – New Zealand won by 4 wickets
1999 – Australia vs India (Melbourne) – AUS won by 180 runs
2003 – Australia vs India (Melbourne) – AUS won by 9 wickets
2006 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – South Africa won by 174 runs
2007 – Australia vs India (Melbourne) – AUS won by 337 runs
2010 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – IND won by 87 runs
2011 – Australia vs India (Melbourne) – AUS won by 122 runs
2013 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – South Africa won by 10 wickets
2014 – Australia vs. India (Melbourne) – Draw game
2018 – Australia vs India (Melbourne) – IND won by 137 runs
2020 – Australia vs India (Melbourne) – IND won by 8 wickets
2021 – South Africa vs India (Centurion) – IND won by 113 runs
1992 – South Africa vs India (Port Elizabeth) – South Africa won by 9 wickets
1996 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – South Africa won by 328 runs
2006 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – South Africa won by 174 runs
2010 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – IND won by 87 runs
2013 – South Africa vs India (Durban) – South Africa won by 10 wickets
2021 – South Africa vs India (Centurion) – IND won by 113 runs