Five instances when Indian teams and athletes earned surprise victories 

#4 2016 Olympics: Sakshi Malik's bolt from the blue

Sakshi Malik after her bronze-winning effort at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The 2016 Rio Olympics was beginning to be a rather disappointing tournament for the Indian contingent. Even the wrestlers, who were expected to bring home some medals, were not being able to do so. A lot of hope was placed on the shoulders of the Phogat sisters, but nothing came of it in the end.

In the midst of it all, Sakshi Malik, who was not given much of a chance, in the presence of other stalwarts, stood tall to fight her way back and clinch a bronze medal -- the only Indian medal at that point, before PV Sindhu won a silver in women's singles badminton.

Even in her bronze medal match, Sakshi was down and out, as her opponent, Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, shot into a five-point lead. However, Sakshi made a brilliant comeback to level the scores and eventually produce a three-point move in the closing seconds, to clinch the match and the bronze medal by an 8-5 margin.