3 Australian spinners with the worst Test records in India

Australia see themselves 2-0 down in the ongoing edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India. Touring teams in India occasionally complain about the heavily turning nature of the wickets, but the counterargument has always been this: if you have good spinners, the wicket becomes equal for both sides. In response to the generally green tracks that are rolled out to India in the SENA nations, India has developed a potent pace attack that's up there among the best in world cricket right now.

However, touring teams coming to India almost always fall incredibly short when it comes to the quality their spin bowlers possess when compared to the likes of Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel. Barring Nathan Lyon, no Australian spinner has looked comfortable in Indian conditions for quite a while.

So on that note, let's look at three Australian spinners with the worst Test records in India.

Note: Excluding players playing in the ongoing edition of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

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#3 Nathan Hauritz - 3 Matches, 11 Wickets, Average - 44.81

Australian off-spinner Nathan Hauritz had a significantly better time in India than the other spinners on this list did, but his bowling average of 44.81 suggests that he could've done much better in the three matches he played in. Another player who made his Test debut in India, Hauritz played his first game in the 4th Test of Australia's 2004 tour of India at the Wankhede Stadium.

He made a great start to his Test career, picking up five wickets in his first game and that included the prized scalps of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. However, in his next two games in India, he could add only six more wickets to that tally while also being very expensive with the ball.

His last appearance in India was also the last Test match of his career, and that came in 2010 in Bangalore. A Sachin Tendulkar double-hundred saw India win a high-scoring match that wasn't easy for the bowlers. Hauritz picked up only three wickets across both innings, also conceding plenty of runs in the process.

He has, however, had a decent Test career, playing 17 matches and picking up 63 wickets overall.

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#2 Xavier Doherty - 2 Matches, 4 Wickets, Average - 60.50

Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty is better known for his exploits with the white ball than with the red, and his Test record in India illustrates the same. Doherty has only four Test appearances to his name, with two of those coming in India.

His first game in India was at Hyderabad in a match where the Aussies suffered an innings defeat. In their only outing with the ball, Australia struggled to contain the Indian batters, with a Murali Vijay 167 and a Pujara double hundred powering India to 503 in reply to Australia's 237. While Doherty picked up three wickets, it was an underwhelming performance considering that Ravichandran Ashwin and even part-timer Glenn Maxwell outperformed him.

The last Test match he played for Australia was the very next game at Mohali and Doherty went wicketless in the first innings on what was a fairly spin-friendly track. India set a target of 133 in their second innings and while Doherty picked up a wicket in that one, it wasn't enough to prevent him getting benched for the next game.

While he has had more success in the limited overs format, Doherty's Test record in India doesn't make for good viewing.

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#1 Brad Hogg - 1 Match, 1 Wicket, Average - 69.00

Left-arm leg-spinner Brad Hogg isn't known for his exploits in Test match cricket and his overall record in Test cricket doesn't look great. That record worsens when we talk about India, with him picking up just one wicket in the solitary game he has played on Indian soil.

His one and only game in India was also his Test debut in the only Test of Australia's 1996 tour of India in Delhi. Put into bat by India, Australia struggled in their first innings, getting bowled out for 182. In reply, a Nayan Mongia century and a Sourav Ganguly half-century helped India to 361. Hogg was expensive with the ball, conceding 69 runs in 17 overs, picking up the wicket of Ganguly.

He didn't get to bowl in the second innings as India chased down a low target of 56 with relative ease. Hogg played only seven Test matches in his career and didn't have a great record, but he did become one of Australia's most reliable limited-overs bowlers.