5 greatest comebacks in Indian cricket

3. India v/s Pakistan (Fourth ODI, Asia Cup 2010)

In any Indo-Pak encounter, you get the feeling that what happens out in the middle is nothing short of a war, a huge struggle for supremacy. The Men in Blue fought tooth and nail to assert their dominance over their arch-rivals in a riveting contest that went right down to the wire.

Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik had already laid the platform for a 300-plus score, but some disciplined bowling by Indians towards the end of the innings hampered their progress somewhat, and cameos from skipper Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal lifted them to a competitive total of 267.

Tempers were frayed and nerves got the better of both sides, with Gambhir and Kamran exchanging words in each other’s faces before being pulled away by their respective teammates. The Indian opener combined well with captain MS Dhoni to put his team on track, but their dismissals served to pump up the Pakistan squad and the hits suddenly dried up.

Raina and Jadeja pushed and plodded, but the latter was soon removed by Saeed Ajmal, bringing the feisty Harbhajan in the middle. While the Sardar took on Shoaib, the left-handed Raina went after Mohammed Aamer, bringing their side closer to the target.

The mercurial Akhtar let loose a verbal volley at Harbhajan after the batsman could manage to score just a couple off the pacer’s final over. A riled Singh shot back before the umpire intervened.

Needing seven off the final over, Raina was run out on the second ball, but Praveen Kumar managed to score three runs off the two deliveries he faced, leaving the Turbanator on strike for the penultimate delivery to be bowled by Aamer. Three more to get.

Harbhajan wound up, swung hard, connected well and sent the ball into orbit over the mid-wicket region. He then pumped his fists and roared, looking for Akhtar, who waved him off. India took the game and eliminated the Men in Green from the tournament.