Ever since India started playing test cricket since 1932, batting more than
anything else has been the strong point of the team which has helped the team
win test matches both home and away. India over the years has produced some of
the greatest batsmen the game has ever known.
This article aims at rekindling some of the greatest knocks played
by India’s batsmen. Though this is a
very contentious issue and there will be people who will argue and might differ
on the list of the greatest Indian test knocks, which is very well appreciated
and anticipated. I have picked according
to my wisdom and view 10 of the greatest knocks played by an Indian in tests. The criteria which I have tried to apply while choosing these
knocks are the match situations, opposition bowling attacks, nature of
opposition. There have been some knocks which have come in a losing cause,
which in my opinion does not take away the greatness and the quality of these
knocks. In any which way. In this first
part of the article i will be placing before all of you the top 5 knocks not
necessarily in the order of merit.
1) V V S Laxman’s 281 against Australia
at Kolkata in march 2001. –Few people will argue or
differ with me on this as this incredible knock just sits head and
shoulders above any knock played by an
Indian. Even the Wisden has rated this knock as the best ever played by an
Indian and is placed in the 6th position on its all time list
of greatest test innings. The Australians under Steven Waugh had come to India in Feb – March 2001 with a record 15 successive test wins under
their belt and quite easily won the first test
in Mumbai well within 3 days. The teams travelled to Kolkata at the Eden
Gardens for the second test match. Australia won the toss and scored 445 runs in
the first innings with the help of Steve Waugh’s 110 and despite Harbhajan
Singh’s hatrick, India was struggling to even save the match. Indian team collapsed in the first innings scoring
a mere 171 runs and had to follow on with a deficit of 274 runs. The only saving grace in the first innings was
a knock of V V S Laxman who scored 59
runs batting at no 6. It seemed as if
Rahul Dravid was getting bogged down at no 3
and was not in the best of
touches as it were and so the team management decided to send V V S at the pivotal no 3 position.
Rest as they say is
history as Laxman and Dravid scripted one of the greatest fight backs this
sport has ever witnessed the duo shared
a partnership of 376 runs for the 5th
wicket and Laxman scored a scintillating
281 runs well supported by Dravid who
scored 180 runs. India not only did not
lose a wicket on the 4th day but astonishingly went on to win
the test match late on the 5th day with Harbhajan Singh doing all
the damage in the 2nd innings. This was only the 3rd occasion
where a team after having following on
went on to win a test match. This epic knock just
changed the face of Indian cricket and
the team started believing in its own ability and the players always thought
that they could pull off a win from virtually any situation. The circumstances under which Laxman played
this innings was simply incredible which makes this knock simply the best knock
by an Indian batsman.
2 ) Rahul Dravid’s 233 and 72 against Australia at Adelaide in Dec 2003.- For an Indian batsman the ultimate moment of
satisfaction has always been
contributing in a test win in overseas conditions. By any yardstick, Dravid’s twin knocks of 233 and 72 against Aussies at Adelaide is one of the greatest knocks by
an Indian. On India’s tour down under in 2003-04 , the 1st test at Brisbane was drawn and the aussies won the toss and on the back of a magnificent
242 d by Ricky Ponting, they scored a mammoth 556 runs in the 1st innings, scoring a staggering
400 runs on the opening day. Dravid came
in to bat at 66/1 and played one of the
finest innings overseas by an Indian. Just like the Kolkata test, the
combination of laxman – dravid proved to be nemesis for the aussies once again,
with the duo adding 303 runs for the 5th wicket. Dravid was in
imperious form right throughout that series and keeping in mind that the
opposition had scored a huge score in the 1st innings, the pressure
on India’s vice captain was immense and he responded with great
determination and helped India score 523
runs just 33 runs short of the aussie total. The aussies collapsed for 196 runs
with ajit agarkar being the chief
tormentor taking 6 wickets in the 2nd innings.
As if the first innings
was not enough for the aussies to scratch their head, dravid came to the rescue
for team india scoring a classy 72 runs to help score the target of 240 runs .
it was indeed appropriate that he scored the winning runs off stuart macgill
and India had finally won a test match in Australia after a gap of 22 years. Dravid was awarded the man of the match and
his reaction at the press conference after the kissing the India crest said it all and showed what this victory
meant to him and indeed to all the team members.
3)
G R Vishwanath’s 97 against west indies at Chepauk in Jan 1975- West Indies arrived at Madras with a 2-1 lead in
the five-match Test series, winning at Bangalore and Delhi. Viv
Richards , who made his Test debut
alongside Gordon Greenidge at Bangalore, had signalled his arrival on the world
stage with an unbeaten 192 at Delhi. India won the toss and opted to bat, but lost six wickets for
55 runs as Roberts blew the Indians apart with sustained hostility. Even though
there were four days to go, the 1-2 series deficit and the shambles at Madras
left even the most optimistic of Indian cricket fans to believe that India
would lose the Test and the series at Chennai to this increasingly powerful
west Indian unit under Cive Lloyd ,.But there was one steely customer the West
Indians had to deal with – a man who was short in height but not in stature.
The degree of difficulty was best summed up by Sunil Gavaskar . “His 97 not out is the finest Test
match innings I was privileged to see,” Gavaskar wrote in his book, Idols, published in 1983. “That attack is the best form of
defence was amply proved in this innings. From 91 for seven, Vishy helped in
carrying the score to 191, and in the end missed his hundred by three runs when
the last man in, BS Chandrasekhar, who had defended dourly, surrendered his
wicket to Roberts. Vishy’s strokes in that innings were unbelievable. His
square-cutting meant that Clive Lloyd had to keep two fielders on the third man
boundary, and the way Roberts was bowling that day, it is a tribute to the
quality of batsmanship. The moment Roberts bowled on the leg side, Vishy
flicked him past square-leg and past mid-wicket. And the moment there was an
over-pitched delivery, he drove it through the covers with elegance.”
The last four Indian wickets added 114 runs – Viswanath’s contribution being a
whopping 80. He added 21 of those runs with last man Chandrasekhar, who was the
worst No 11 in the world. The second highest scorer in the Indian innings
was Ashok Mankad with 19. Viswanath had scored 51.05% of India’s runs and single-handedly
defied the fire and fury of Roberts who finished the innings with seven wickets
for 64 runs. Roberts followed up with
5 for 57 in the Indian second innings. It was an
innings in which Vishwanth yet again rose to the occasion by emerging as the
second highest scorer (46), which was good enough for India to win the Test.
4) M S Dhoni’s 224 against Australia in march
2013- Australia
had come to India for a series of 4 test matches and the opening test was to be
played at Chennai. The Aussies won the toss and batting first, scored a useful
total of 380 runs on the back of skipper
Clarke’s ton. India lost 2 quick wickets but Pujara and Tendulkar rescued the side and
after both of them were dismissed, Kohli and Dhoni had a century stand and with the score at 372/7, the
match was in the balance with Dhoni well set and a Chennai wicket beginning to
worsen. This is where, Dhoni took the innings
by the scruff of its neck and shepherded
the tail adding a handy 140 runs with no 10 Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, thus completely breaking the aussie morale. . He was especially merciless against spinner Nathan
Lyon and hit 6 huge sixes and scored his first ever double
century. The fact that Dhoni batted so
dominantly even with the match in balance and that too with the tailenders, is
what makes this innings so brilliant. The
fact that Dhoni as a skipper played such
a magnificent knock had a tremendous
impact on the team and india won the series 4-0 .
5) Sunil Gavaskar’s 96 against Pakistan
in march 1987. –Tthe 2 arch rivals India and Pakistan were playing the final
test of a 5 match series at Banglore, with all the previous 4 tests drawn
everything hinged on this test. Pakistan
batted first and were bundled out for a mere 116 , Maninder Singh being the
chief tormentor taking 7 / 27. The wicket turned out to be a minefield and
india were bowled out for 145 runs and the spin twins from Pakistan, Iqbal
Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed took 5 wickets
each. Pakistan fared a bit better in
their 2nd innings scoring 249
runs and set India a target of 221 runs to win the match and the series.
The target was not huge but the
pitch was playing all kinds of tricks and batting against 2 quality
spinners in the last innings was tough. Pakistan
knew that though India had fine batsmen adept at playing spin, but Gavaskar was
the key and the fact that a bowler like Imran Khan did not bowl a
single ball in the last innings is ample testimony to the state of the pitch. Wickets
kept falling at regular intervals and only Gavaskar stood firm amidst the conundrum. The ball was literally turning square and Gavaskar’s
level of concentration was of a very
high standard as was pointed out by Javed Miandad, who stood at silly point and
observed Gavaskar’s batting from very close quarters. Finally Gavaskar fell at
96 and India lost the match by 16 runs and with it the series to Pakistan. Till
today when people talk of a great innings, this one from Sunny Gavaskar is undoubtedly mentioned in the league of rare
gems.
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