Australian captain Michael Clarke walks with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after winning the series 4-0 against India in Adelaide January 28, 2012.
Australian captain Michael Clarke walks with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after winning the series 4-0 against India in Adelaide January 28, 2012. Brandon Malone

The Australian and the Indian Cricket Teams will start the first of the four test matches to be played across the months of December and January starting on Dec. 9 at Adelaide. Predicting any sporting event is risky business but a look back at the last ten years might give us certain clues as to what to expect in the next two months.

There have been three full-fledged tours by the Indian Cricket Team Down Under to play Test Match Cricket. The last one was during the 2011-12 season when Michael Clarke's Australia whitewashed Mahendra Singh Dhoni's India four nil. Before that the Indian Cricket team toured Australia during the 2007-08 cricket season. Then Ricky Ponting led Australia just managed to hang on to a two-one lead to win the series. The third and the only other time that India toured Australia in the last ten years was during the 2003-04 series. That series was a one all draw between Steve Waugh's Australia and Sourav Ganguly's India.

There are certain clear patterns that emerge from their head-to-head history. Firstly, it is very important which team wins the first Test Match. Indian Cricket teams have lost the first match in two of the three which eventually cost them the series. Next the performance of the captain plays a big part in the outcome of a series. Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble managed to rival the performance of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting which resulted in two very evenly fought series. In the last series Manhendra Singh Dhoni was awfully short of Michael Clarke's influence on his team that resulted in a very similar performances form their respective sides.

The two key takeaways in this exercise were to show the importance of the first Test Match towards the result of the series and the influence of the captain on the team. Michael Clarke is ready to lead Australia while the inform Virat Kholi has agreed to step in for Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the latter is out because of an injury. This injury might just be a blessing in disguise for the Indian Cricket Team.