Indian Cricket’s Top 4 Wins In Test Cricket

Test cricket is the place where players are tested both physically and mentally. It is a session by session warfare between two teams who are trying to win it over a period of 5 days. The oldest and purest format of the game is where the prestige lies and where legends are made. Indian cricket team has played some exceptional test cricket throughout the history of this beautiful game and have some memorable wins in their name. This is a list of 4 top test wins by the Indian men’s cricket team over the history of the game that will take you through the glorious games once again.

Here’s The List Of Top 4 Wins In Test Cricket

India vs England | The Oval | 1971
This was a time when the Indian cricket team rarely won anything anywhere forget about abroad. But India went to England after a 1-0 win in the West Indies which used to be a force to reckon with in world cricket. The morale was high in the Indian dressing room but India was yet to win a test match in England till that tour. The Indian side was captained by Ajit Wadekar and the English side was led by Ray Illingworth. The first 2 test matches of the tour ended in a draw. For the third test match teams traveled to The Oval, in the first innings England scored 355 with the highest score of 90 from Alan Knott, from Indian bowling Eknath Solkar picked 3 wickets. In response, the Indian side was bundled for 284 with the highest contribution of 59 by Farook engineer, English captain took 5 wickets.
Then comes the 2nd innings and after conceding the lead the expectations weren’t much but Bhagwath Chandrashekhar picked 6 wickets and bundled the English side for 101 runs setting a target of 173 for the Indian side. The Indian team came to bat in the 4th innings with an eye on their first-ever win in the English conditions. The batting unit slowly but steadily chased down the target with captain Ajit Wadekar contributing the highest score of 45. The winning moment is famous for Ajit Wadekar being asleep in the dressing room when Abid Ali hit the winning runs.

Ind vs Eng Oval 1971

India vs West Indies | Trinidad | 1976
No team had ever chased down a total of 400+ in the 4th innings of a test match after 1948 and to this day this seems like a tough task for any team to chase down 400+ in the 4th innings. The Caribbean island loves cricket as no one else does and in 1976 the West Indian bowling attack was feared by the best of the best batsmen. Clive Loyd the captain of the West Indies side was confident of a comfortable win when the target was set for 403 runs for the visiting Indian side captained by Bishan Singh Bedi.

West Indies scored 359 in the first innings with a flamboyant knock of 177 by Viv Richards, in response India got out on 228. West Indies declared their 2nd innings on 271 for 6 with Alvin Kalicharan hitting a ton. India was given a mountain to climb with 403 runs to win and everyone saw an easy win for the West Indian side. But, little master Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath scored brave hundreds with an important contribution of 85 by Mohinder Amarnath to write history and win the match in style with 6 wickets left.

India vs West Indies | Trinidad | 1976

India vs Australia | Eden Gardens | 2001
Arguably the greatest test match victory ever not only by India but by any side against any side on any turf. Steve Waugh’s Australian side was invincible and was on a crusade of victory after victory and on their way of triumphs came the India tour of 2001. The first test match played in Mumbai was won by the Aussies comfortably and in the 2nd test match at Eden Gardens Kolkata they were in control for the first 2 days. Australia posted a total of 445 with the help of a ton by captain Steve Waugh and a 7-wicket hall by young Harbhajan Singh. India’s 1st innings was over for a total of 171 with a half-century by VVS Laxman. Steve Waugh called the Indian team to bat again and announced a follow-on and that is when the Indian team started to write history. No cricket fan across the world can forget the partnership between VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180). Indian captain Sourav Ganguly declared at 657 for 7. The Australian team came to bat on the last day of the test match chasing 384 but were all out for 212 with Harbhajan Singh picking up 6 wickets including a hat trick and Sachin Tendulkar picking up 3 important wickets.
This was a historic event in the Indian cricket story and tables were turned forever after this win, the effect was such that India beat Australia in the 3rd test match as well and won the series 2-1 putting an end to the Australian juggernaut.

India vs Australia | Eden Gardens | 2001

India vs Australia | Gabba | 2021
A young inexperienced Indian side with all the main star players out due to injury and other factors in front of a fully-loaded Australian side with Smith and Warner in the side after a long suspension. The Indian team on this tour scripted a story of courage grit and determination to show the world that this side means business. The Indian team was bowled out for 36 in the first test of this tour and lost the opening match of the 4-match series, but bounced back in the 2nd test at Melbourne and pulled off an impossible draw at Sydney. Gabba was the 4th test match and a totally inexperienced bowling attack thrashed through the Aussies combined with the gritty knock by Rishabh Pant.
Australia posted 369 in the 1st innings with the help of a ton from Marnus Labuschagne, Indian side posted 336 with the lower order help from Shardul Thakur (67) and Washington Sundar (62). Australia then posted a total of 294 and Mohammad Siraj picked 5 wickets for India.
The Indian side came to bat with a target of 328 in the 4th innings, the match went down to the wire and around the final few minutes, Rishabh Pant hit a boundary and India won for the first time at Gabba and sealed the series with an inexperienced side. To summarize the significance of this win are the words of Australian coach Justin Langer who said this in the post-match conference “Never Ever Ever Underestimate The Indians”.

India vs Australia | Gabba | 2021

Conclusion
We surely could have missed out on various other special wins from the past as the Indian team has a lot of memorable and big wins outside this list. This list is special given the conditions of the game and the situation from which these games were won. If you have any other game that you think should be in this list, let us know in the comments section.