8 iconic moments in Indian cricket over the last 2 decades (2000-2019)

#3. Test Series win in Pakistan, 2004

India vs Pakistan. For most players from the two neighboring countries, it doesn’t get bigger than this. This time, India were touring Pakistan for a Test series after a gap of 14 years and had never won a Test there earlier. History was to be re-written.

In the first Test, at Multan, Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to score a triple century. He was assisted by Sachin Tendulkar, who remained unbeaten on 194 (a declaration which led to a lot of controversy). Responding to India’s total of 675 for 5, Pakistan were dismissed for 407. Following-on, the home team was bundled out for 216 as Anil Kumble took six wickets. This was India’s first Test win on Pakistani soil.

The Inzamam-ul-Haq led Pakistan came back strongly in the second Test at Multan to defeat India by 9 wickets. With the series tied at 1-1, fans from both sides were eager to see their team cross the finishing line in the third Test at Rawalapindi.

India won the toss and elected to field and had Pakistan in dire straits at 137 for 8. A 70 run ninth wicket partnership between Mohammad Sami and Fazl-e-Akbar was the saving grace for the home team as they were eventually bowled out for 224. Despite losing the triple-centurion Sehwag off the first ball, India made a strong reply. Riding on Rahul Dravid’s 270, India scored 600 runs. He got good support from Parthiv Patel, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, all of whom scored half-centuries.

With 376 runs behind, Pakistan were always on the back-foot in their second innings. Wickets fell at regular intervals and the innings never really took-off. The home team were finally bowled out for 245, giving the Indians a victory by an innings and 131 runs. Laxmipathy Balaji was the star bowler of the Indian side and took 7 wickets in the match. Kumble too chipped in with four wickets in the second innings.

This victory meant that for the first time in history, India had won a Test series in their eternal rival and neighbour's den.

#4. World T20 champions, 2007

When the schedule of the inaugural World T20 was announced, most of the senior players in the Indian set-up decided to give it a miss. Thus, a young squad led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni went to this African safari. Like in the 1983 World Cup, the Indians were underdogs in the 2007 T20 World Cup.

After a first-round exist in the recently concluded 50 overs World Cup in the Caribbean Islands, the popularity of cricket in the nation had hit rock-bottom. Without the weight of expectation, the young boys enjoyed themselves in the middle.

India’s campaign began with an abandoned match against Scotland. The next match was against arch-rivals Pakistan and it had to be decided in the bowl-out after a tie at the end of 40 overs. India ended up winning the bowl-out.

In the Super 8s, India lost their opening match against New Zealand by ten runs. The next match was against England and Yuvraj Singh emerged as the hero hitting six sixes in an over. India won this match by 18 runs. With a victory over South Africa, India advanced to the semi-finals where they met a strong Australian outfit.

Yuvraj takes England to the cleaners with six sixes in an over:

Yuvraj continued his good form and scored 70 off 30 to take India to 188 in the allotted 20 overs. The Indian bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets to take India to a 15-run victory and to the finals.

Having defeated the Kiwis in the semi-finals, Pakistan had also advanced to the finals. Thus, a blockbuster final awaited cricket fans. And the two teams didn’t disappoint them. India were able to manage only 157 runs in their quota of 20 overs, which wasn’t a big total by T20 standards. Gautam Gambhir was the top scorer with 75. The Pakistanis lost Mohammad Hafiz in the very first over of the innings. However, Imran Nazir took control of the situation and scored a quickfire 33 off 14. But, post his wicket, no partnerships were allowed to flourish. At 104 for 7, it looked to be the end as far as Pakistan were concerned. But skipper Misbah-ul-Haq wasn’t ready to give up just yet. With support from the tail, he took his side to just 13 runs away from the World Cup when the last over began.

With the last Pakistani pair in the middle, India had to pick up one wicket or defend 13 runs. Despite the fact that experienced bowler Harbhajan had an over left, Dhoni decided to give the ball to medium pacer Joginder Sharma. He began with a wide and when the second ball was hit for a six, Indian fans had every right to question Dhoni’s decision. But the next ball changed everything, including probably T20 cricket as well.

Misbah went for a scoop shot over short fine-leg but was able to only give an easy catch to Sreesanth. India had won by five runs.

In the post-match presentation, Dhoni said, “It’s one of the things I will treasure for the rest of my life. I’d like to congratulate the boys and thank them for the response they have given me. No-one expected us to win and the way we played today deserved a big celebration”

T20 format had arrived with the best possible launch-pad.