5 best counter-attacking innings in Test cricket in recent times

In some ways, Test cricket is reminiscent of a boxing match. The combatants are too exhausted to throw solid punches at each other, yet they are still on their feet. One leads by points, already savouring the sweet scent of victory. The other is, for all practical purposes, down and out. Then something changes. A shift in thought occurs. A last, desperate step is taken, backed by newfound energy and a never-say-die attitude. The rival is taken aback and eventually crumbles under the hope-fuelled onslaught. Those who witness this near- miraculous turnaround are left speechless in wonder.It is what the military calls a counter-attack. The philosophy is simple: Either you go down, or I go down. But not without a fight. Cricket’s longest format has seen numerous forms of a counter-offensive, ranging from complete aggression and dominance to the dour and solid grafting approach.Here are five special instances where a counter-attack has not only benefited the side but also brought them triumph when a loss looked the most likely.

#5 Harbhajan Singh (70 vs West Indies, Kingston - June 2011)

Harbhajan’s spirited 74-ball innings rescued India from a difficult spot against the West Indies

This was a knock that came at a crucial juncture. The West Indies bowlers were breathing fire and weaving a web around the much vaunted Indian line-up at Sabina Park. For the better part of the day, the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the middle order was sorely missed.

Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman couldn’t do much in the first innings on a moist pitch that looked likely to take a vicious amount of turn later on while debutants Abhinav Mukund and Virat Kohli suffered a trial by fire in the game’s longest version.

Suresh Raina was at the receiving end of a hostile spell by Fidel Edwards, peppered with short balls, but still managed to stay in. India had collapsed to 85/6 and desperately needed to put up a defendable total. Then came the turnaround.

Harbhajan Singh strode in, and tore into leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, taking three consecutive fours off him. What made it even more remarkable was that none of his scoring shots were slogs or streaky edges.

With all the calm assurance befitting a top-order batsman, the off-spinner took the fight to the rival camp with a couple of glorious leg glances for boundaries off Ravi Rampaul’s short stuff. It took the pressure off Raina, and India mounted a remarkable recovery via their 146-run stand for the seventh wicket.

By the time he was dismissed, for an entertaining 70, India were out of the woods. Courtesy a Dravid century in the second innings, the ODI World Champions completed a 63-run victory in four days.

#4 Brian Lara (213 vs Australia, Kingston - March 1999)

The Prince of Trinidad unleashed his fury on a hapless Australian attack at Kingston in 1999

Hell hath no fury than a star player scorned, vilified and temporarily stripped of captaincy a couple of weeks before Steve Waugh’s Australians visited the Caribbean shores. Pay disputes, questions over leadership style, and an embarrassing defeat in the first game of a tough series – all of these was getting to WI skipper Brian Charles Lara.

Perhaps it was just the ignominy of it all that prompted him to tell his counterpart at the toss: “This could be the last time I’ll be doing this.” By the end of the first day’s play, those words began to have an ominous feel.

West Indies had fallen to 34/4, with the left-hander looking circumspect against McGrath and the others. A bleak outlook prevailed among scores of spectators and fans alike.

Day 2 saw one of the greatest fightbacks ever launched against one of the best bowling attacks of all time. Overnight, Lara had undergone a transformation from tentative prodding to refined savagery. He launched into leg spinner Stuart MacGill and medium pacer Greg Blewett with such ferocity that the Aussies stood shell-shocked.

Countering McGrath with intelligence and deft placements, the Prince of Trinidad smacked the wily Shane Warne for his third six, cruising to his third double century and first three-figure score in two years.

The WI captain’s exploits overshadowed compatriot Jimmy Adams’ solid half century and Waugh’s masterful hundred in the first innings. Australia were so thoroughly outplayed that they crumbled to off-spinner Nehemiah Perry’s bag of tricks in their second essay, and the Calypso kings knocked off the required 3 runs in next to no time, levelling the series.

#3 VVS Laxman (73* vs Australia, Mohali - October 2010)

Even a bad back couldn’t stop the God of the fourth innings from shepherding India to another win over Australia

Ask any die-hard cricket fan what his/her favourite memory of Indian cricket is, and the response will be varied. Try querying them on the greatest Indian fourth-innings chase in recent Test history, and they will point to Mohali in October 2010. For it was on that ground that a 35-year old middle-order stalwart delivered another virtuoso performance to secure a win from the depths of defeat during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

If 2001’s effort was nothing short of epic, VVS Laxman’s innings during the final day of the first Test against Australia nine years later was equally heroic. Low-scoring games make for the best thrillers, especially when the side chasing the target doesn’t have many wickets left in the tank.

Chasing 216 to go up in the two-match series, India found themselves in all sorts of trouble at 124/8. Seamers Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger had been the wreckers-in-chief as Ricky Ponting looked for his first win as captain on Indian soil. All they had to do was get rid of the tailenders, or even Laxman – the Hyderabadi’s back had become sore, necessitating the use of Suresh Raina as a runner.

The script was torn. Ishant Sharma mounted a solid resistance while his injured compatriot unleashed his signature drives and flicks. Farming the strike, Laxman managed to add 81 runs with the lanky fast bowler before a Hilfenhaus delivery trapped Sharma leg before. The task of getting the remaining 11 runs became a little more arduous.

However, Steve Smith’s shy at the stumps with Pragyan Ojha out of his crease resulted in four overthrows, and a couple of scampered leg-byes delivered the win for India. Laxman remained unbeaten on 73 from 79 balls, his innings a more solid form of a counter-attack than an aggressive one.

#2 Adam Gilchrist (149* vs Pakistan, Hobart - November 1999)

Adam Gilchrist’s blitzkrieg innings flattened Pakistan at Hobart in 1999

Adam Gilchrist is one of those players who can not only score rapidly but also look extremely relaxed while doing so. Truth be told, the man wields a cricket bat as if it is an extension of his own arms. So when he gets going, it is only natural for the opposition to go off on a leather hunt. Pakistan found that out to their cost on a cold November day at Hobart in 1999.

Mohammad Wasim’s 91 and Saqlain Mushtaq’s six-wicket haul had earlier lifted the 1992 World Cup winners to a position of strength; Australia managed to eke out a slender 24-run lead. Inzamam ul-Haq’s century left the home side requiring 369 for a win; however, half of the Kangaroos’ line-up was back in the pavilion with only 126 on the board.

Gilly had other ideas. With Justin Langer for company, the left-handed wicket-keeper went for his shots with a preternatural calm and a fearless demeanour. Pakistan captain Wasim Akram’s regular bowling changes seemed to have no effect on the proceedings, and Gilchrist laid into the bowling in a manner more suited to limited-overs cricket.

Surviving a few close calls, the buccaneering southpaw reached his maiden Test century in only 110 deliveries – the second fifty coming off just 38 balls. He finished unbeaten on 149 and together with Langer’s hundred, steered his side home to victory; a result that disheartened Akram so much so that he didn’t turn up for the post-match press conference.

#1 Dinesh Chandimal (162* vs India, Galle - August 2015)

Dinesh Chandimal’s rampage led Sri Lanka to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat

In all honesty, India should have won this game hands down. For a majority of the entire match, they called the shots. Ravichandran Ashwin led the way with a six-wicket haul in Sri Lanka’s first innings while skipper Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan struck centuries to nullify Tharindu Kaushal’s five scalps.

And when the Emerald Islanders found themselves reeling at 95/5 via another Ashwin special, victory was just a mere formality for the former No. 1 ranked Test side. For all their posturing about aggression, the Indians were completely blown away by a magnificent innings from Dinesh Chandimal.

With the Galle track taking more and more turn, Lanka’s former Twenty20 captain decided to take his game up several notches and shifted into top gear. Fortunate enough to survive two chances, Chandimal brought out all the shots he could conjure – the reverse sweep and the switch hit being the primary ones – as he negated the threat of the spinners with aplomb.

19 boundaries and four sixes later, with admirable support from Jehan Mubarak and Lahiru Thirimanne, the wicket-keeper batsman had pulled his side out of the woods. Set 176 to win inside two days, India wilted under a tremendous spell from left-arm spinner Rangana Herath to lose the match by 63 runs and go 0-1 down in the series.