Indian cricket has experienced many ups and downs on the way to becoming a global powerhouse in the sport.
Not only in India but also all over the world, the Indian cricket team enjoys enormous acclaim. They have produced legends like MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, and Sachin Tendulkar, among others, whose names are etched not only in cricket fans’ hearts but also in the history books.
We’ll take a look at three iconic innings in this article that played a big role in India becoming a cricketing superpower.
#3 MS Dhoni:91*(79) vs. Sri Lanka, World Cup Final 2011
The image of former Indian captain MS Dhoni hitting a helicopter six over long-on in the Wankhede Stadium final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is still etched in the minds and hearts of Indian fans. After 28 years, India became the first team to win the World Cup on their home turf when the ball flew over long-on.
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli stabilized the innings under pressure against a deadly Sri Lankan attack, despite the openers’ shaky start. India was nearly 150 runs short of their target when Kohli lost his wicket with a score of 35(49).
From that point on, he made sure the chase was easy by scoring 91 runs in just 79 deliveries with Yuvraj Singh winning the chase and beating the Lankans in the crucial final.
#2 VVS Laxman:281(452) vs. Australia, Kolkata, 2001
After allowing a staggering 445 runs in their first innings, their batting fell to a meager 171 runs. The hosts, on the verge of losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time ever at home, requested that India continue with the intention of securing a historic victory by concluding the test in three days.
VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, on the other hand, had other ideas. They batted out the entire day and scored runs all over the place. Not only did they recover the deficit, but they also set a competitive target of 384 for the final day of play, which the visitors failed to achieve.
The team won the match despite continuing from the first innings, a feat that only an Indian cricket team had ever accomplished and was only the third time in test cricket history. For many years to come, Ganguly’s men’s self-assurance was boosted by this victory.
#1 Kapil Dev:175*(138) vs. Zimbabwe, 1983 World Cup
Despite winning the first two matches of the 1983 World Cup in England against the favorites West Indies and Zimbabwe, India was on the verge of being eliminated after losing the next two matches with a score of 9-4 while batting first in the first innings of a game that had to be won.
Before Roger Binny and captain Kapil Dev put together a fifty-run partnership for the sixth wicket, a humiliating defeat was in the offing. India made a comeback to 124-7 in 36 overs at lunch, but Madan Lal stood his ground with his captain and the team made some progress toward an innings.
After that, Kapil unleashed a complete assault that was unheard of in the days of 60-over cricket. He hit the bowlers all over the park and almost entirely increased the score from 17-5 to 266-8.
Indian cricket’s first World Cup century was also scored by Kapil. In addition, this run-out set a new world record for the most runs scored in an innings of One-Day International play at the time. They went on to win the match by 31 runs, finishing second in their group, and beat the West Indies in the finals to win the Prudential World Cup.