Proud And Iconic Indian Cricket Wins
The nation is celebrating its 75th year of independence. India has come a long way as a cricket nation after gaining independence. It took India 21 years to register their first Test win in 1953. The country is now a powerhouse both on and off the field. During its rich cricketing journey, the nation has notched up many important wins along the way. It changed not just the cricketing landscape but the standing of the nation in general.
We look at 5 of the Proud And Iconic Indian Cricket Wins:
#5 Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 2001
Australia under Steve Waugh was a different beast. India was their final frontier in 2001. They were on a 16 Test match winning streak. Australia looked on course for their 17th win in a row when they enforced the follow-on in the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. They had secured a lead of 273 runs.
The writing was on the wall. But a different Indian team turned up in the second innings. VVS Laxman hit an iconic 281 while Rahul Dravid contributed 180 in a 376-runs partnership. India set Australia a target of 384. With just two sessions to play, India won the game in the dying stages. A new Indian Test team was born!
#4 Gabba, Brisbane, 2021
It could be termed pure coincidence that 20 years later to the famous Eden’s win, India notched up another great win. The opponent was not different too. India won at Gabba, Brisbane, a venue where Australia had not lost a game in the last 32 years. Nobody had given India a chance post the disastrous first Test at Adelaide. They were without their key players for the rest of the series. It all came down to Gabba in the fourth Test with the series standing 1-1.
A young India went all out to chase 329 on the final day. India unearthed new heroes as they took down the old guard of Australia at their proud den. The world witnessed for the first time what the bench strength of Indian cricket looks like.
#3 T20 World Cup, 2007
India entered the competition having played just a single T20I prior to the World Cup. The big guns had given the tournament a miss. MS Dhoni was appointed the captain for the inaugural World Cup. The unheralded, untested, young Indian team went on to create history.
They beat established sides like Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, and England in the World Cup. India won the final by a margin of just 5 runs. Their win led to the birth of the IPL. A tournament that has rewritten cricketing history.
#2 ODI World Cup, 2011
If the T20 World Cup 2007 had zero expectations, the 2011 ODI World Cup was the reverse. It was the home World Cup where India started as outright favourites. They suffered a single loss throughout the tournament to emerge champions. India’s World Cup win on 2 April 2011 was a watershed moment in Indian cricket. It reiterated the fact that India is now a global dominion in cricket.
#1 ODI World Cup, 1983
India had won just a single game against minnows, East Africa in the first two World Cups. It was expected to be pretty much the same in the third edition too. But India’s captain, Kapil Dev had other ideas. Despite the odds being stacked 1-66 against them, India triumphed. They defeated two-time defending champions, West Indies twice in the tournament. India not just won the World Cup but won the respect of the entire world. They have never looked back ever since!
