Published: Nov 26, 2015, 05:33 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 26, 2015, 05:42 PM (IST)
India over the years have been a strong batting unit and have been inspiring confidence as a team. Although they are hardly known for their bowling, there have been instances when Indian bowlers have managed to restrict their opponent inside two figures. The ongoing third Test between India and South Africa at Nagpur witnessed a dramatic collapse of the visitors batting line-up. The wickets fell like nine pins on a doctored pitch which assisted the spinners. South Africa were bowled out for a mere 79 runs in their first innings. Suraj Choudhari writes down seven such instances where Indian bowlers stood out.
1. India vs South Africa at Nagpur, November 2015: Batting first, India posted a modest score of 215 on a track which had enough turn on it. South African batting stubled as the troika of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra ripped through their batting line-up. They were done and dusted for a mere score of 79 and Indian gained a healthy lead of 136 runs. This is now the lowest innings total for any team against India.
2. India vs Sri Lanka at Chandigarh, November 1990: After posting a respectable total 288 runs in their first innings, India looked a bit restless against the formidable batting line-up of the visitors. Venkatapathy Raju bowled with unmatched confidence and chipped six wickets to dismantle Sri Lanka for a mere score of 82. For almost 15 years, this remained as the lowest innings total against India before the ongoing Test match surpassed it. This game was conquered by India by an innings and eight runs.
Brief scores:
India 288 (Ravi Shastri 88) bt Sri Lanka 82 and 198 (Asanka Gurusinha 52, Hashan Tillakaratne 55) by an innings and 8 runs.
3. Australia vs India, 3rd Test at Melbourne, February 1981: India were defending a target of 143 runs in the fourth innings of the Test. The target could have been a cakewalk for the Australians but Kapil Dev had some other ideas in mind. He steamed in and took five wickets with his guile to wrap up the star studded hosts line up for a small score of 83. He was equally supported by Dilip Doshi and Karsan Ghavri. India won the thrilling Test by 59 runs and squared the three-match series with this victory.
Brief scores:
India 237 and 324 (Gundappa Vishwanath 114, Chetan Chauhan 85, Sunil Gavaskar 70) bt Australia 419 and 83 (Allan Border 124, Doiug Walters 78, Greg Chappell 76) by 59 runs.
4. South Africa vs India, 1st Test at Johannesburg, December 2006: Some outstanding bowling performances by Indian seamers helped their side in restricting South Africa for a low score of 84 in their own den. India scored 249 runs in their first innings on a wicket which assisted the pacers. S Sreesanth was the destructor in chief as he shipped five wickets. South Africa were demolished for 84 runs and India got a lead of 165 which further helped them in winning the match. With this win, India got a lead but failed to maintain the momentum as they went on to lose the next two matches.
Brief scores:
India 249 and 236 (VVS Laxman 73, Sourav Ganguly 51) bt South Africa 84 and 278 (Ashwell Prince 97, Shaun Pollock 40) by 123 runs.
5. Bangladesh vs India at Dhaka, November 2000: The one-off Test witnessed a lot of drama as the hosts were decimated for 91 runs after putting a good show with the bat in the first innings. Bangladesh plundered 400 runs in the first innings but were ripped apart for a score of 91 runs further setting a target of 63 runs for Indians to chase. Every Indian bowler contributed substantially as each of them had at least one Bangladeshi scalp to his name. India won the Test comprehensively by nine wickets where the bowlers played a massive role behind it.
Brief scores:
India 429 and 64 (Sunil Joshi 92, Sourav Ganguly 84, Sagagoppan Ramesh 58) bt Bangladesh 400 and 91 (Aminul Islam 145, Habibul Bashar 71) by nine wickets.
6. India vs Australia, 4th Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Wankhede, November 2004: The entire Test was a low-scoring one as the track assisted the spinners massively. Both the teams were equally sharpened and India were fighting for glory in the ultimate battle after losing the war. India were defending a total of 107 runs in the fourth innings on a pitch which was turning. Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik spun a series of web around the Australian batsmen and shared eight wickets between them. India won the nail-biting encounter by a whisker of 13 runs but Australia anyway won the four-match series 2-1.
Brief scores:
India 104 and 205 (VVS Laxman 69, Sachin Tendulkar 55) bt Australia 203 and 93 (Damien Martyn 55, Matthew Hayden 35) by 13 runs.
7 . New Zealand vs India, 2nd Test at Hamilton, December 2002: This was a wicket which was dominated by pacers as the New Zealand conditions are supposed to be. India were bowled out for 99 in the first innings in reply to which they fought fire with fore and disassembled the hosts for a paltry score of 94. Zaheer Khan was a sensation to watch along with Ashish Nehra. But India didn’t manage to save the Test as their batting once again fumbled in the second innings. The hosts won the Test by four wickets and whitewashed India in a two-match series.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 94 and 160 (Stephen Flemming 32, Mark Richardson 28) bt India 99 and 154 (Rahul Dravid 39, Sachin Tendulkar 32) by four wickets.
(Suraj Choudhari, an avid cricket follower who plays the sport at club level, is a staffer with Criclife)
