The Indian cricket team continues to live up to its ‘invincibles’ status when it comes to Tests at home. Up against the World Test Championship (WTC) winners New Zealand, Virat Kohli & Co. secured a thumping victory in the second Test by 372 runs in Mumbai to seal the series 1-0 with 5 sessions to go in the match. In the process, India won their 14th consecutive Test series at home. Let’s have a look at five of the most historic test wins in Indian history.
The first match in the list is the test versus Australia in Kolkata. Australia were on a 16-match winning run and had won the first Test. They scored 445 and bowled India out for 171. Steve Waugh’s final frontier looked scalable when he asked India to bat again but VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) put on 376 and helped India set Australia a target of 384 in 75 overs. Harbhajan Singh grabbed six wickets and in fading light India recorded only the third instance of a team winning a Test after being asked to follow on.
The second match is against Australia again. Again the Aussies were on a 16-match winning run. India were victims of dodgy umpiring in Sydney and had been denied a draw. But they picked up the pieces and flew to the WACA in Perth where no Asian side had won a Test because of the mythical pace and bounce in the pitch. Irfan Pathan produced an all-round effort and rookie bowlers RP Singh and Ishant Sharma conjured a seam bowling masterclass as India ended up winners by 72 runs.
The third test match is the one in Multan in 2004. After 20 Tests spread over five visits and almost half a century, India had not yet broken their cricketing duck in Pakistan. They had lost five Tests while 15 had been drawn. From the historical viewpoint then, this victory by an innings and 52 runs is of utmost significance. But then there were also several notable individual achievements to make this a complete triumph. The most significant was Virender Sehwags dazzling 309, the first triple hundred by an Indian in Tests. . Spearheaded by Irfan Pathan and Anil Kumble, they did just that and after enforcing the follow on the Indians wrapped up a historic victory early on the final morning.
The fourth test is the one at Gabba in 2021. This was a win for the ages by India, one that will be trumpeted on the subcontinent as possibly their greatest in Test history. At no stage did they have anything going for them. Australia had not lost at the Gabba since 1988. India were beset by injuries. No team had scored anything like 329 to win a Test match in Brisbane. India didn’t even have to win, a draw being enough for the visitors to retain series honours as the current holders of the trophy.
The last test in the list is the one at Lord’s against England in 2021. While batting in the second innings England had a poor start and they were reduced at 67-5. Every member of the Indian pace battery which consisted of Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, and Ishant got at least one wicket each. Also with the amazing efforts of pace battery, India defeated mighty England at Lord’s by 151 runs. As they bowled out England at the score of 120, they went on to claim a historic victory at the historic Lord’s.
