On the return leg to Australia, the team stopped on the Indian subcontinent. Davidson's 37 in the inaugural one off Test against Pakistan was his first score beyond 25 in nine Tests. He was bowled sparingly with a total of 2/15 from 15 overs as Australia lost by nine wickets. A muscle problem stopped Davidson from playing against India in the First Test in Madras, which Australia won by an innings. He played only in the Second Test, with pacemen Miller and Ron Archer injured and unavailable. It got worse for Australia as Davidson and fellow paceman Pat Crawford were hampered by stomach bugs and a hip strains respectively. Davidson scored 16 and took match figures of 1/42; Australia were unable to finish off the Indians with their depleted attack and the match ended in a draw. Davidson was left out of the Third Test win, so his overseas tour had ended without a Test victory, and only 64 runs at 16.00 and his underused bowling yielded five wickets at 22.60. In total, he had played twelve Tests, none of them resulting in an Australian victory. His individual performances were also unimpressive despite being successful at first-class level, producing only 317 runs at 18.64 and 16 wickets at 34.06. It was to be another year before Davidson tasted victory at the highest level.