5 Closest wins for India in Tests (by runs)

Every Test match win by runs does not mean that the team wins by a huge margin. There may be some instances where a team win by a small margin. The smallest margin of win was by 1 run by Windies against Australia in 1993 at Adelaide.

Recently, India defeated Australia by 31 runs at Adelaide on 10 December 2018. Cheteshwar Pujara was the Player of the Match.

Let us have a look at the top 5 closest wins for India in Tests (by runs).

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#5 49 runs against Windies, Kingston, 2006

India scored 200 in the first innings of the match against Windies on 30 June 2006 at Kingston. Rahul Dravid was the highest scorer in the match. He scored 81 in this match. Jerome Taylor picked a fifer by dismissing Wasim Jaffer, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.

However, Windies suffered a worse collapse in the batting as they scored 103 all out. Harbhajan Singh picked a 5-wicket haul by dismissing Daren Ganga, Dwayne Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Denesh Ramdin and Pedro Collins.

India's second innings was bundled out for a total of 171 with Dravid being the highest scorer. He scored 68. Corey Collymore was the star performer with the ball. He dismissed VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh.

In reply, Windies made a strong comeback. Sarwan and Ramdin scored 51 and 62* respectively. But it was not enough as they were dismissed for 219 and lost by 49 runs. Kumble picked a 6-wicket haul by dismissing Chanderpaul, Bravo, Samuels, Taylor, Collins and Collymore.

Rahul was the Player of the match for his fifties in both the innings and India won the 4 match series by 1-0.

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#4 37 runs against Windies, Port of Spain, 2002

India scored 339 in the first innings of the match against Windies on 19 April 2002 at Port of Spain. Tendulkar scored another century and was dismissed by Cameron Cuffy leg before wicket. Laxman scored an unbeaten 69. Marlon Black and Adam Sanford picked up 3 wickets each.

Windies scored 245 all out. Brian Lara and Carl Hooper scored half-centuries. Javagal Srinath was the star performer with the ball by dismissing Gayle, Chanderpaul and Murray.

India were bundled out for 218 in their second innings. Tendulkar remained unbeaten with 75. Laxman scored 74 and was bowled by Mervyn Dillon. Dillon was the star performer with the ball by dismissing Das, Laxman, Srinath and Nehra.

Windies made a strong comeback. Gayle and Chanderpaul scored half-centuries. But they were 37 runs short of the target. Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra picked up 3 wickets each.

Laxman was the Player of the match for his fifties in both the innings and India led the 5 match series by 1-0.

#3 31 runs against Australia, Adelaide, 2018

India had a poor start as they lost their 3 wickets for the score of 19 on 6 December 2018 at Adelaide. But, they made a strong comeback. Pujara scored 123 which propelled the team to a score of 250. Hazlewood picked up 3 wickets by dismissing Rahul, Rahane and Shami.

In reply, Travis Head 72 and was caught by Pant off Shami. Finch had an unforgettable inning as scored a duck. Aussies were bundled out for a total of 235. Ashwin and Bumrah picked up 3 wickets each.

In the second innings, Rahul and Rahene made a strong comeback. But Rahul was six runs short of his fifty. Rahane and Pujara scored 70 and 71 respectively. Nathan Lyon had a good inning with the ball as he picked up a 6-wicket haul by dismissing Kohli, Pujara, Sharma, Pant, Rahane and Shami.

In reply, Marsh made a strong comeback by scoring 60 runs. Paine was nine runs short of his half-century. The tail-enders had a good day with the bat. But their efforts were not enough as they were 31 runs short of their target. Shami, Ashwin and Bumrahpicked up 3 wickets each.

Pujara was awarded as the player of the match for his sensible knocks and India lead the 4-match series by 1-0.

#2 28 runs against England, Kolkata, 1972-73

Bhagwath Chandrasekhar picked a nine-wicket haul.

India played against England on 30 December 1972 at Kolkata. India scored 210 all out. Ajit Wadekar was six runs short of his fifty. Farokh Engineer scored 75 and was bowled by Derek Underwood. Bob Cottam picked up 3 wickets by dismissing Viswanath, Abid Ali and Prasanna.

England were bundled out for a total of 174 without a single batsman scoring a fifty. Alan Knott remained the highest scorer for England in the innings. He scored 35 and was stumped by Engineer off Chandrasekhar. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar picked a five-wicket haul by dismissing Amiss, Denness, Knott, Underwood and Cottam.

India were dismissed for 155 in the second innings. Durani scored 53 and was caught by Fletcher off Greig. Tony Greig picked a five-wicket haul by dismissing Durani, Solkar, Wadekar, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar.

England had a poor start in the second innings as they lost their 4 wickets for the score of 17. However, they made a strong comeback. Tony Greig scored 67 and was dismissed leg before by Greig. Bedi picked a five-wicket haul by dismissing Fletcher, Amiss, Lewis, Pocock and Underwood.

India won the match by 28 runs and levelled the 5 match series by 1-1.

#1 13 runs against Australia, Mumbai, 2004

India played a test match against Australia on 3 November 2004 at Mumbai. They had a worse batting collapse as they were dismissed for 104. Dravid was the highest scorer in the innings and remained unbeaten at 31. Gillespie picked up four wickets by dismissing Gambhir, Tendulkar, Laxman and Kaif.

Australia were dismissed for 203. Damien Martyn scored 55 and was bowled by Murali Kartik. Anil Kumble picked a 5-wicket haul by dismissing Ponting, Katich, Clarke, Gillespie and Hauritz.

India made a strong comeback as they scored 205 in the second innings. Laxman and Tendulkar scored 69 and 55 respectively. Michael Clarke had a good day with the ball as he picked a 6-wicket haul by dismissing Dravid, Dinesh Karthik, Kaif, Harbhajan, Kartik and Khan.

Australia had a worse batting collapse as they were bundled out for a total of 93. Bhajji picked a 5-wicket haul by dismissing Katich, Hayden, Gilchrist, Kasprowicz and McGrath.

India won by 13 runs. Murali Kartik was the Player of the Match for his spell of 7/76. However, Australia won the 4-match series by 2-1.