subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
A bit of a classic but wondering if any games of the past decade make it close.
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Greatest Test Match
- Thread starter subshakerz
- Start date
Thala_0710
State Regular
AUS is common in all 4, the other nations need to step up and produce more classics!
DrWolverine
International 12th Man
2000 was the worst year for Indian cricket.
- In January India lost to Australia at Sydney by an innings and 141 runs resulting in a 0-3 loss
- In February & March India lost its first home test series (2-0) in 13 years to South Africa. In the second test, India lost by innings and 71 runs.
- In Novembers, India played a two test series against Zimbabwe. Andy Flower scored 540 runs in a 2 Test series and India won just 1 Test.
- India’s morale was at an all time low with their captain Azharuddin being banned for match fixing. Senior players such as Jadeja & Mongia were banned as well.
- Australia was at its absolute best. They had won the World Cup in 1999 and won a record 15 consecutive Test matches beating the record set by the the legendary WestIndies team led by Clive Lloyd which had won 11 successive tests.
- Australian captain Steve Waugh had declared that India was the final frontier. He wanted to become the first Australian captain in 4 decades to win a Test series in India.
INDIA VS AUSTRALIA 2001
In the first test match, Australia won at Mumbai by 10 wickets.
KOLKATA 2001
1st innings : Australia scored 445
1st innings : India was dismissed for 171.
India was asked to bat again.
In the 125 years of test cricket, only twice had a team won after being enforced to follow on.
Eng won in 1894 after having a deficit of 261 runs.
Eng won in 1981 after having a deficit of 227 runs.
At the end of Day 3, India’s score in the second innings was 254/4 and Sachin Tendulkar was also dismissed.
India had a deficit of 274 runs. For India to win, it has to create history.
MAGIC HAPPENED
VVS Laxman was playing at number 3 for second time in his career and Rahul Dravid was playing at number 6 position for first time since 1996.
Both Laxman & Dravid remained unbeaten the entire day to score 166 & 148 runs respectively on Day 4.
At end of Day 4, India was now leading by 315 runs.
DAY 5
On Day 5, India declared at 657/7 thanks to Laxman’s 281 & Dravid’s 180.
India had to dismiss Australia for less than 384 runs in less than 75 overs.
Australia had a great start and cruised to 74-0 in 23 overs.
Without Javagal Srinath & Anil Kumble, India’s bowling lineup was very inexperienced.
Venkatesh Prasad was our senior most bowler. Zaheer Khan was playing his 3rd Test match and Venkatapathy Raju was playing his first Test in 3 years.
Ganguly had been captain for just two series before - One against Bangladesh and one against Zimbabwe.
Harbhajan Singh was playing his first Test match in 15 months and was picked only on the insistence of Saurav Ganguly.
Harbhajan picked 6 wickets in the second innings and was aided by superstar Sachin Tendulkar who picked 3 wickets to dismiss Australia for 212 runs.
Australia’s record of 16 consecutive wins was finally over.
Indian cricket had forgotten the shame of match fixing and defeats to finally beat the World Champion.
I still remember the match and people coming out of their homes and bursting firecrackers in joy. It was a nationwide celebration.
- In January India lost to Australia at Sydney by an innings and 141 runs resulting in a 0-3 loss
- In February & March India lost its first home test series (2-0) in 13 years to South Africa. In the second test, India lost by innings and 71 runs.
- In Novembers, India played a two test series against Zimbabwe. Andy Flower scored 540 runs in a 2 Test series and India won just 1 Test.
- India’s morale was at an all time low with their captain Azharuddin being banned for match fixing. Senior players such as Jadeja & Mongia were banned as well.
- Australia was at its absolute best. They had won the World Cup in 1999 and won a record 15 consecutive Test matches beating the record set by the the legendary WestIndies team led by Clive Lloyd which had won 11 successive tests.
- Australian captain Steve Waugh had declared that India was the final frontier. He wanted to become the first Australian captain in 4 decades to win a Test series in India.
INDIA VS AUSTRALIA 2001
In the first test match, Australia won at Mumbai by 10 wickets.
KOLKATA 2001
1st innings : Australia scored 445
1st innings : India was dismissed for 171.
India was asked to bat again.
In the 125 years of test cricket, only twice had a team won after being enforced to follow on.
Eng won in 1894 after having a deficit of 261 runs.
Eng won in 1981 after having a deficit of 227 runs.
At the end of Day 3, India’s score in the second innings was 254/4 and Sachin Tendulkar was also dismissed.
India had a deficit of 274 runs. For India to win, it has to create history.
MAGIC HAPPENED
VVS Laxman was playing at number 3 for second time in his career and Rahul Dravid was playing at number 6 position for first time since 1996.
Both Laxman & Dravid remained unbeaten the entire day to score 166 & 148 runs respectively on Day 4.
At end of Day 4, India was now leading by 315 runs.
DAY 5
On Day 5, India declared at 657/7 thanks to Laxman’s 281 & Dravid’s 180.
India had to dismiss Australia for less than 384 runs in less than 75 overs.
Australia had a great start and cruised to 74-0 in 23 overs.
Without Javagal Srinath & Anil Kumble, India’s bowling lineup was very inexperienced.
Venkatesh Prasad was our senior most bowler. Zaheer Khan was playing his 3rd Test match and Venkatapathy Raju was playing his first Test in 3 years.
Ganguly had been captain for just two series before - One against Bangladesh and one against Zimbabwe.
Harbhajan Singh was playing his first Test match in 15 months and was picked only on the insistence of Saurav Ganguly.
Harbhajan picked 6 wickets in the second innings and was aided by superstar Sachin Tendulkar who picked 3 wickets to dismiss Australia for 212 runs.
Australia’s record of 16 consecutive wins was finally over.
Indian cricket had forgotten the shame of match fixing and defeats to finally beat the World Champion.
I still remember the match and people coming out of their homes and bursting firecrackers in joy. It was a nationwide celebration.
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
I find it hard to pick one of those four.
I think Edgbaston just had the most non-stop excitement of all those games and along with 60/61 test the best finish.
Headingley and Kolkatta had the most dramatic twists and ATG bowling and batting performances.
The 60/61 test was tied which is just unique.
60/61 and Kolkatta had dramatic influence on their respective countries cricket trajectory.
I think Edgbaston just had the most non-stop excitement of all those games and along with 60/61 test the best finish.
Headingley and Kolkatta had the most dramatic twists and ATG bowling and batting performances.
The 60/61 test was tied which is just unique.
60/61 and Kolkatta had dramatic influence on their respective countries cricket trajectory.
ashley bach
Cricketer Of The Year
Not as bad as losing 3-0 at home to those useless New Zealanders
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
I think the strength of opposition was what was most impressive about this test victory. Australia seemed unstoppable until that point.
capt_Luffy
Cricketer Of The Year
Australia vs England Oval 1902
_00_deathscar
International Regular
MCG 2024/2025 vs India, apparently
Bizarre glazing for that test…
Bizarre glazing for that test…
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
My favorite test of all time is Pak India Chennai 99.
Betterpolo
School Boy/Girl Captain
I'm tempted to go for the 5th test between South Africa and England in 1939. This match was a showcase for pretty well all of the disciplines of Test cricket and all it lacked was excitement, purpose and a result. We've hit peak Test cricket when a world war comes as a blessed relief.
But being English I've seen some extraordinary games, two of which are listed by the OP. But I have to go for Kolkata really. It had all the drama of twists and turns (the Aussie 1st innings had more than most sporting events and the game hadn't even taken off by then), the underdog prevailing against the odds, individual brilliance etc. but it was the overall quality too, a hugely talented group of Indians leaving everything out here to beat one of the great teams of all time. Breathtaking really.
But being English I've seen some extraordinary games, two of which are listed by the OP. But I have to go for Kolkata really. It had all the drama of twists and turns (the Aussie 1st innings had more than most sporting events and the game hadn't even taken off by then), the underdog prevailing against the odds, individual brilliance etc. but it was the overall quality too, a hugely talented group of Indians leaving everything out here to beat one of the great teams of all time. Breathtaking really.
SillyCowCorner1
Moooo
I don’t know who we were playing, but I remember Walsh and Ambrose (& Bishop?) cleaning up a side in the 4th innings who had to chase 120-something
I remember watching live on TV, the tied Test match in Madras between India and Australia in 1986.
Insane drama throughout the match. Very under hyped match, given that it was only the second tied Test match so far in Test cricket history.
The match had pretty decent cricketing stars (Allan Border, Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, young Steve Waugh).
We just couldn't believe it when Ravi Shastri took a single (to tie the score) and gave the strike to Number 11 Maninder Singh.
It didn't make any sense.
Shastri was a big star then, he scored an important 50 in India's first innings, and had already smashed 48 runs off just 40 deliveries in India's second innings before giving the strike to Maninder.
In terms of drama with cricketing quality, for me it is very tough to top the West Indies - Australia 1999 Barbados Test match.
The series was tied 1-1 at that point, so it was a huge match in that context as well.
When a Test match ends in the final hour of the final day, with the final pair of batsmen scoring the winning runs, with 39 wickets having fallen in the match (meaining no sporting declarations etc. - a complete Test match contest), you can imagine the drama involved and how even the contest was.
The match had centuries by the best batsmen on both sides (Lara, Waugh & Ponting) and 5fers by the best bowlers on both sides (McGrath & Walsh).
Another equally dramatic Test match at Barbados was the West Indies - Pakistan match in 1988. I couldn't watch that live though.
Insane drama throughout the match. Very under hyped match, given that it was only the second tied Test match so far in Test cricket history.
The match had pretty decent cricketing stars (Allan Border, Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, young Steve Waugh).
We just couldn't believe it when Ravi Shastri took a single (to tie the score) and gave the strike to Number 11 Maninder Singh.
It didn't make any sense.
Shastri was a big star then, he scored an important 50 in India's first innings, and had already smashed 48 runs off just 40 deliveries in India's second innings before giving the strike to Maninder.
In terms of drama with cricketing quality, for me it is very tough to top the West Indies - Australia 1999 Barbados Test match.
The series was tied 1-1 at that point, so it was a huge match in that context as well.
When a Test match ends in the final hour of the final day, with the final pair of batsmen scoring the winning runs, with 39 wickets having fallen in the match (meaining no sporting declarations etc. - a complete Test match contest), you can imagine the drama involved and how even the contest was.
The match had centuries by the best batsmen on both sides (Lara, Waugh & Ponting) and 5fers by the best bowlers on both sides (McGrath & Walsh).
Another equally dramatic Test match at Barbados was the West Indies - Pakistan match in 1988. I couldn't watch that live though.
Sliferxxxx
U19 12th Man
India in Barbados in the 1997 series at home. WI also bowled out Zimbabwe for 63 while they were chasing 99.
SillyCowCorner1
Moooo
Also, Shannon Gabriel (do we draw this or go out with a bang?) in the Mis-You farewell test match.
SillyCowCorner1
Moooo
Yes, good old times
Sliferxxxx
U19 12th Man
Brain fade...
Coronis
International Coach
Must be a hero of Sundar’s.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
Was there at that game. Afridi's innings is underrated af.