What happened last time Steve Smith captained a Test in India?

Steve Smith will captain Australia in their upcoming Test match against India at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. Regular captain Pat Cummins is unavailable for this match due to personal reasons. Cummins led the team in the first two Tests of the four-match series, where Australia suffered two embarrassing losses.

With Pat Cummins unavailable for the third Test, Australia's squad has been further depleted. Experienced players like David Warner and Josh Hazlewood have also returned home due to injuries.

Steve Smith has a heculean task on his hands. He will have to ensure that Australia do not suffer another embarrassing defeat at the hands of India. If Australia end up losing this series by 0-4, there will be a question mark over their place in the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023.

One good thing for Australian fans is that Steve Smith is a more experienced captain than Pat Cummins. He has led Australia in 36 Tests, recording 20 wins, 10 defeats and six draws. Four of those 36 games were against India on Indian soil. Australia won one, lost two and drew one of those four matches.

India beat Australia by 8 wickets in Steve Smith's last Test as captain in India

Australia Tour of India Training Session (Image: Getty)

Steve Smith's last Test as captain against India lasted from March 25 to 28 in 2017. He captained Australia in the fourth match of the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. Both India and Australia had won one match each heading into the fourth Test. Dharamsala's Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium hosted that Test.

Incidentally, Dharamsala was the original venue for the upcoming India vs. Australia Test as well before the BCCI moved it to Indore.

In 2017, Smith won the toss and opted to bat first in Dharamsala. The skipper led the team from the front, scoring 111 runs off 173 balls in the first innings. David Warner and Matthew Wade supported him with a half-century each. Australia posted 300 runs on the board.

India played under Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy as Virat Kohli was unavailable due to an injury. The home side gained a 32-run first-innings lead, thanks to half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara. Nathan Lyon bagged a five-wicket haul for the Aussies.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav united forces to destroy Australia's batting lineup in the second innings. All three bowlers scalped three wickets as India bowled Australia out for just 137 runs. Glenn Maxwell top-scored with a 60-ball 45, but the rest of the batters let the visitors down.

Chasing 106 for a win, India won the match by eight wickets. KL Rahul scored another half-century to guide the Indian team home. Here is a short summary of that match.

Match summary of Steve Smith's last Test as captain in India

Australia 300 (Steve Smith 111, Kuldeep Yadav 4/68) & 137 (Glenn Maxwell 45, Ravindra Jadeja 3/24) lost to India 332 (Ravindra Jadeja 63, Nathan Lyon 5/92) & 106/2 (KL Rahul 51*, Pat Cummins 1/42) by 8 wickets.