India's best overseas Test victories

With India going down meekly in the recently concluded Test series in England, we look at some of the memorable performances put up by the Indian Cricket Team in overseas condtions. Here are the best overseas Test match victories for India (since the year 2000) :

5. 2002 Vs West Indies, Trinidad

India scripted an impressive victory against West Indies during the second Test of the five match Test series in April 2002 at Trinidad. The Indian victory was led by a Sachin Tendulkar century (117) in the first innings and two half centuries in the match from VVS Laxman (69 & 74*), who was named the Man-of-the-Match. After securing a first innings lead of 94 runs, India found themselves in a tight spot at 56-4 in the second innings when Laxman and skipper Sourav Ganguly came together at the wicket. The pair put on an impressive 149 runs for the fifth wicket, which helped India set the West Indies a competitive 313 runs to win the Test match. At 257-5, the West Indies were favorites to win the game, but the Indian pacers picked up four wickets for seventeen runs to bowl out the West Indies for 275 in the fourth innings of the Test match.

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4. 2002 Vs England, Leeds

Centuries from Rahul Dravid (148), Sachin Tendulkar (194) and Sourav Ganguly (128) in the Indian first innings helped India complete a comprehensive innings victory over England at Leeds, in the third Test match of the 2002 India tour of England. India posted a massive total of 628 runs, and then bowled England out for 273 and 309 to win their first Test match on English soil since 1986. Rahul Dravid played an especially memorable knock on the first day of the Test match, as he negotiated a tough spell of pace bowling under overcast conditions to give India a strong platform on which to build a big first innings total and in the end was named the Man-of-the-Match. The win helped India level the series at 1-1.

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3. 2004 Vs Pakistan, Rawalpindi

With the three match Test series against Pakistan levelled at 1-1 after two Tests, India and Pakistan moved to Rawalpindi to play the deciding third Test match, the last game of India’s month long tour of Pakistan. Virender Sehwag’s knock of 309 in the first Test match at Multan was still fresh in the minds of the Pakistan bowlers. India bowled out Pakistan for just 224 in the first innings, but then lost Virender Sehwag on the very first ball of the Indian innings. Pakistan’s bowlers, in particular Shoiab Akthar, went all out and gave their everything in an effort to pick up more Indian wickets. India’s Rahul Dravid walked out to bat in the very first over of the Indian innings. Dravid saw off the fiery spell of pace bowling, and then started to get on top of the Pakistan bowlers. Slowly but surely, Dravid inched his way to fifty, then to his hundred, and looked resolute at the crease. Dravid (270) batted on and on, bringing up the fifth double century of his Test match career, and helped India reach exactly 600 runs in the first innings. With a lead of 376 runs, India had the upper hand and bowled out Pakistan for just 245 in the fourth innings to complete a famous win and scirpt a deserving series victory against Pakistan.

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2. 2003 Vs Australia, Adelaide

Four months before Rawalpindi, Rahul Dravid was at the center of yet another memorable Test victory for India, this time at Adelaide. India fought out a draw in the first Test of the four match Test series at Brisbane, led by a 144 from skipper Sourav Ganguly. In the second Test match at Adeliade, Australia got off to a great start, with Ricky Ponting hitting a commanding 242 in the Australia first innings, helping Australia finish on 556. India’s first innings looked to be going nowhere at 85-4, when that pair of Dravid and VVS Laxman came to the wicket in a Test match against Australia. The pair put on a massive 303 runs for the fifth wicket, and took India past the 500 run-mark, led by Dravid’s 233. India then bowled out Australia for just 196 in the second innings, thanks to a fine spell of swing bowling from Ajit Agarkar (6-41). Set a target of 233 runs to win the Test match, Dravid was again the rock in the innings, as he batted through the very end, finishing on 72*. Fittingly, India’s two heroes of the match, Dravid and Agarkar, were at the wicket when the winning runs were scored. The win helped India take a 1-0 lead in the series.

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1. 2006 Vs West Indies, Jamaica

After three drawn Test matches in the series, India and the West Indies moved to the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica for the fourth and final Test match. On a wicket that offered lots of turn to the spinners, and on which the ball kept unusually low for the batsmen, a low-scoring encounter was on the cards, and hence was a result. India batted first, and put on exactly 200 runs in the first innings, thanks to a 93-run stand between Dravid and his Karnataka teammate Anil Kumble for the seventh wicket. India then bowled out the West Indies for just 103 runs in 34 overs, with Harbhajan Singh bagging 5 wickets. A lead of 97 runs was crucial, but batting again got tough and the Indian batsmen crumbled to the difficult conditions. Dravid however stood tall for the second time in two days, and inched his way to yet another 50 plus score. He eventually finished on 68 off 166 balls, with no other Indian batsman crossing MS Dhoni’s 19. India thus set the West Indies a target of 269 runs to win the Test match, and the series, but thanks to Anil Kumble’s spell of 6-78 the West Indies fell 49 runs short of their target. It was India’s first Test series victory on West Indies soil in 35 years.

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