India's greatest win ever?

Having been fortunate enough to have been at all of India's greatest wins in the new millennium (Headingley 2002 was the lone exception), it's perhaps natural that the mind tries to place the victory in context. Given what happened in the build-up to the game, it's inevitable that it will always have a special place in Indian cricket lore. But is it the greatest victory ever? Vote in the poll below.

Creating a shortlist helps to decide. Headingley would certainly be there, for the batting from Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and the bowlers who then dismissed England twice. Adelaide 2003 will always be special. After all, how many teams concede 556, then slump to 85 for 4 and go on to win the game? Multan 2004 would make the list too, India's first win on Pakistani soil. And after the narrow escape at Lord's, the Zaheer Khan-inspired triumph at Trent Bridge is a no-brainer as well. Jamaica 2006 marked India's first series win in the Caribbean in 35 years, while victory at the Wanderers a few months later gave them a first win in the highveld.

Of the home wins, two remain indelible memories. Both Kolkata and Chennai hosted epic Tests against Steve Waugh's all-conquering heroes in 2001, and the excitement of that final afternoon at the Eden Gardens has only been matched by the fingernail-chewing at Edgbaston in 2005.

When it comes to narrowing down the choices, Jamaica and Multan fall by the wayside first. Historic though they were, the opposition could hardly be classed as legends. One was a West Indies team that has forgotten how to win, and another a Pakistan side in more disarray than it is now.

Headingley too misses out for similar reasons. That English team was good, but nowhere near as formidable as it was to become two or three years later. The same applies to Trent Bridge, and victory against a side that was unquestionably on the wane.

That leaves us with the Wanderers, and four Test matches against Australia. After being routed in the one-day series preceding it, the Wanderers win was an incredible achievement, especially after the South Africans had specifically asked for a fast and bouncy pitch. But again, South Africa are not a great side, though the addition of Dale Steyn could see them once again challenging the best on a consistent basis.

Adelaide loses out to Chennai and Kolkata simply because there was no Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne to overcome. And in turn, Chennai just slips because the Eden Gardens because of the sheer improbability of what India achieved after following on against the greatest team of the age.

It comes down to Kolkata and Perth then, and with the greatest respect to Ricky Ponting and his fantastic team, I'd have to say that Steve Waugh captained a side with more quality. Brett Lee and Stuart Clark are superb bowlers, but McGrath and Jason Gillespie (in his prime) they're not.

There was also Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and the Waugh twins, not to mention Ponting himself. Factor in Shane Warne, and you can see why the Eden Gardens triumph may never be surpassed. Perth comes a very close second though, victory against the world's best in conditions thought to be most suitable to them.

It would be interesting to hear which wins supporters of other teams savour most. For Australia, I guess it would have to be Sabina Park 1995. Most English fans will never forget Edgbaston 2005, and Sri Lankans will savour The Oval 1998 in the same way. For Pakistanis, it might be Kolkata 1999, when they recovered from 25 for 6 to beat India. Karachi 2006 might also run it close.

For New Zealand, you perhaps have to go back all the way to 1985-86 and Richard Hadlee's heroics at Brisbane and Perth. As for West Indies, victories have been so rare lately that Adelaide 1993 still remains imprinted on the mind.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Comments

[Marius Roodt]

You say South Africa isn't a great side, yet with the exception of Australia, and England circa 2005, they have managed to hold off every storming of the South African fortress post isolation. The only team apart from Australia and England who have even come close to beating SA at home since isolation was Pakistan in 1996/1997. South Africa have warded off every challenge. And although they have not always been that great away from home, they have just beaten Pakistan away (still an impressive feat). They should have drawn their last series in Sri Lanka (only Mahela Jawardene stood between them and a vicotry in the 2nd Test). Although they lost to India in the last series because of bizarre selection decisions (Justin Ontong as the team's front-line spinner, insane) with the emergence of Paul Harris and Dale Steyn, the always rock-solid Jacques Kallis and the hopefully in-form Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince, they have a good chance of giving India a good run. They have always acquitted themselves well in England, the West Indies and New Zealand, leaving Australia the only country where South Africa has been consistently outplayed in the past decade. At home they nearly slipped up against the West Indies but proved their class by disposing of them in clinical fashion in the final two Tests, and absolutely annhilated New Zealand late last year (granted that was the Dale, Hashim and Jacques III vs the New Zealand XI). Still I think you do South Africa a disservice by saying that they are not a great side, implying that they are little more than average, and winning a Test in the Republic is an easy feat.

You further betray your anti-South African bias by speculating on which each Test country's greatest win is over the past few years, without mentioning South Africa, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Bangladeshi and Zimbabwean Test wins are about as easy to find as a competent ICC administrator, but South Africa has had some splendid victories over the past few years. For example, chasing down over 300 to beat Australia in Durban in 2002, all 3 of South Africa's post-isolation wins at Lords, beating India by an innings in Bangalore in 2000, and sealing the series, the 1999 win over England in 1999, when England were 2/4. There are a number of victories which could be looked at, yet you ignore South Africa totally. I think I will stick to readiing Patrick Kidd's column from now on.

[Alex Jackson]

As ever, I am impressed by your reading of India's current predicament. It was a truly great win, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. It wasn't India's greatest win ever, the fact that it probably won't even result in a drawn series in the end ensures that the win won't linger in the memory for all that long(unlike Headinley, Trent Bridge or Chennai). It was an excellent test match win. Though both Australian test match defeats at Perth, and Indian test match victories abraod are both extremely rare, it just cannot rank as India's finest test match win.

Just a quick bugbear (I don't expect this to go on the blog). Your writing is excellent. Your attention to detail is matched by a beautiful turn of phrase. But can you PLEASE avoid constantly harping back to the 2001 series against Australia? I have been reading your articles for the last two or three years, yet you nearly always seem to find a way of including THAT series, and in particular "Steve Waugh's all conquering heroes." It infers that that series was the only series that India, and indeed for that matter Australia, have ever been involved in. Whilst this article is to an extent, an attempt on your behalf to redress this overwhelming imbalance, I would like to think you can free your writing from using that series as a yardstick. That series was the exception, not the norm. Though for the purposes of this artilel, it is useful to illustrate what a series that was, but in your average, regular joe article, there is just no need to CONSTANTLY refer back to it. An incredible series undoubtedly, but equally, India have been played hundreds of other test series, and you ought to reflect that. I wonder if you are aware of how often you mention that series and your seeming obssession with Steve Waugh, but your writing will undoubtedly improve once you start using that series a little more sparingly in your future articles.

Kind regards,

Alex Jackson

ps. It DOES piss me off that most English cricket journalists are still obssessed with the Ashes series of 2005. It tends to gloss over the fact that it was our only win against the old foe in 19 extremely barren years.

[Harry]

Quite right Ann. I too look back fondly at the glory days, when England played with the same attitude that the Aussies do.

[Ann]

It is so like a pessimistic Englishman, one who thinks that you should apologise for winning (which is the single biggest problem with English cricket), to say that it was a 'lucky decision' at Edgbaston. It wasn't lucky. It was the correct decision according to the laws of the game.
What we need is lots more Bothams, Flintoffs and Vaughns, and probably Gowers and Goochs, people who believe that England deserves to win by right. That's why England did so well when those were in the side.

[Patrick Kidd]

Hi Dileep,
I know I'm straying off topic by continuing to talk about great England wins, but yes I think Headingley 81 beats Trent Bridge 05. Of course it depends what criteria we use. Perhaps making such a great Australia side follow on for the first time in 16 years is a greater achievement than making a meal of beating a lesser side, but Headingley 81 had such drama, such adventure and such context that it has to come top in my view. Remember: Botham had been sacked as captain and England were trailing in the Ashes to this mediocre Australia side after losing at Lord's. It would have been very easy for this series to get embarrassing and it certainly looked that way after three days at Headingley. Yet what drama followed and not just from Botham but Dilley, Willis and Old, too. It was the greatest simply because we are still talking about it 27 years later (and part of that is because great England victories have been few and far between ever since). I'm not sure we will still be talking about Trent Bridge 05 in 2032. We may still be talking about Edgbaston 05 then, but that's because the drama came more from England nearly losing it than from them winning it.

Anyway, here's hoping that Lord's 2009 turns out to be the greatest of them all!

[Tarun Y]

1. Kolkata 2001
(the situation; the opposition; [the Aussies at their peak, in their prime - 16 wins etc])

2. Chennai 2001
(ditto, but loses out to Kolkata, for reasons you have already mentioned)

3= Port-of-Spain 1971 (vs West Indies); Oval 1971 (vs England)
(A year when India went undefeated in test matches and won two away series in the west indies, which had Sir Sobers, and England which at the time were Ashes holders and regarded as the 'best'. India wowed the world with its four spin attack!)

5. Adelaide 2003-04. Teams ranked 1 and 2 in the world; world cup finalists locked horns. For all the reasons, you mentioned above. The situation of Australia already having racked up 550+, and India being 85-4. And then still winning!

Adelaide pips Perth '08 because: [i] The Perth pitch wasn't the "Perth pitch" in the traditional sense; [ii] Australia were without Hayden, [iii] Shaun Tait was God-awful, and Johnson not much better.
The Gillespie (pre-Ashes 05), Lee, Bracken and McGill attack was better, plus the Aussies were full-strength in batting.

[Dileep]

West Indies were certainly not the best team in the world in 1971. That was either the banned South Africa or the England team that had won the Ashes in Australia.
And Patrick, you think Headingley '81 is better than Trent Bridge '05? I mean, Australia were hardly as great an outfit in '81, for all of Botham's brilliance.

[pardeep]

wat about w indies in 1971 . i think that was the best of all times. winning against the best and that when we were still(considered) novices.

[Harry]

Well done Team India. A great game and a well deserved win for the side that played the best cricket on 3 of the 4 days (I would call day 4 a draw). Like other contributors I would pick the Eden Gardens win over this one by a long margin. As an Aussie I still remember the sense of shock that rippled through the country when our "unbeatable" team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (with a little help from some bloke called Laxman). The side at that time was in its prime, experienced and at full strength. This side, on the other hand, is going through the process of renewal while trying to maintain the mantle passed to them by the previous generation.
Only time will tell whether Team India will be able to take the number 1 position from the Aussies but some of the reaction to this win sounds a little like the reporting we read when England wins one game. The ECB promptly declares all its problems to be over and the beginning of a new age of English domination to be just around the corner.
I would love to read an Indian perspective on how the umpires performed in this match. Whether there were any errors and what effect they had on the result.
The bottom line is that the two best teams in the world are in a de facto world cup final series and those of us who get to watch are privilaged indeed, regardless of the result.

How can you compare Kolkata and Perth?!

Despite the acrimonious buildup in WA the Perth test was a dead rubber.. the Border Gavaskar trophy already retained by Australia.

The Aussies will quickly put the WACA loss out of their minds.. no problems... But Kolkata on the other hand will always reside in that dark place of nightmares - deep in the recesses of the mind.

[Peter b]

Kolkata get my vote,although I loved the Perth test & was fortunate to watch a great deal of it at the WACA

Kolhata was a come from behind win against a better side.

In Perth India pretty much won every day, had few flat spots, made less mistakes and their doctrine was better although in the lunch to tea session India should have attacked more & had the opportunity to take the game away in that session.

I hope this is taken the right way but India played with the dedication & structure of Australia.

Australia didn't

One thing that sems to have escaped general notice is how inexperienced( in test terms) the Australian side was

The bowlers Clarke, Tait & Johnson probably wouldn't total 30 testes between them and the openers were 6 tests & debut.

For all this they went down by less than 80 runs.

This isn't an excuse but an indication of the changing of the guard and that we can expect further Australian losses as this group becomes battle hardened

[Manas]

kolkata 2001

[Akhthar]

Dileep,

It was a bit nostalgic to go through those great matches.

Yes, Calcutta 2001 and Perth 2008 are the joint best test victories of India. Calcutta 2001 was a miracle, but still I would rate Perth 08 as good as that. The most optimistic indian fan didn't expect their team to win at Perth when India was about to tour Aus and no-one except the team believed they could win after being 2-0. At my most optmistic mind, my series result was:

India 2 - Australia 1

India winning at Sydney and Adelaide
Aus winning at Perth
drawn at Melbourne

I guess you don't follow West Indian cricket that well. I do remember their two of the greatest victories and both were in the last decade. 1. Barbados Vs Australia in 1999 (Wow, Lara did it almost single handedly and I'm yet to see something like this from Tendulkar)
2. St. John 2003 Vs Australia (highest run chase in test cricket as of now)

[Dsingh]

Kolkatta has become part of an Indian cricketing folklore - the stuff of which dreams are made of. A story in which heroes look real and believable. The come from behind victory has a sweeter smell, not matter what the conditions offered then.
Perth will be remembered for the courage and charisma shown by a never-say-die outfit. To choose between the two will be an ardous task. But Kolkatta, like first love, will truely linger on until a new generation forgets the magic conection to it.

[Patrick Kidd]

Hi Dileep, greetings from one blogger to another. As an England fan, I'd have to disagree that Edgbaston 2005 was one of our greatest victories. It was a fascinating, brilliant Test to watch and one of the most memorable but that England came so close to blowing it takes away some of the lustre (and the fact that we possibly got a lucky decision to claim the final wicket). The result should have been in the bag from the moment that we took a 100-run first-innings lead against a McGrath-less Australia.

A greater win that series was at Trent Bridge (although even then we almost blew it). Not many times that any side has made Australia follow-on... And Old Trafford should have been the greatest win of the series if only *&%$^& Harmison had bowled straight at McGrath in the closing overs.

For me, the greatest England Test win still has to be Headingley 81

[Ottayan]

Calcutta 2001- undoubtedly.

[Dwijottam Bhattacharjee]

Yes, the Adelaide test match in 1993 must be bright in West Indian memory. I am an Indian, but I love West Indian cricket and perhaps await their revival as much as Barbadians and Jamaicans do.
I can't help the feeling that another test match deserves consideration as West Indies' finest in recent years. It is difficult to forget the incredible ending to the West Indies-Australia test match at the Kensington Oval, Barbados in 1999, when Brian Lara was helped by the somewhat unlikely duo of Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh to add 60 for the last two wickets and get 308 needed for victory (himself scoring 153 of the finest test match runs ever scored). I remember watching as an impartial spectator at an unearthly hour on Indian TV, and my spine still tingles with the excitement I felt as Courtney Walsh somehow kept out four deliveries, allowing Lara to smash the next into the offside boundary to bring the victory up. This came after Ambrose had personified determination, putting on 54 with Lara. Australia had reduced the West Indies to 108 for 5 at one stage; Glen McGrath bowled an incredible mid-afternoon spell, hitting Lara on the helmet, having a verbal joust and then removing Ridley Jacobs and Nehemiah Perry off successive balls: really, even the Australians must surely remember this as one of their great matches.
That is how my memory serves me when I think about the likely finest West Indian victory in recent times. I really wish the Caribbeans many, many more of them soon. Cricket needs them.