Indian cricket team is the most followed cricket team in this world.
Even if a match is played between India and England or India and Australia in England or Australia respectively , 70% of the crowd will be supporting India.
Here are the most glorious highlights from the Indian Cricket Team's History:
1) First test victory on foreign soil -
Winning Tests away from home represented the biggest challenge for India. The attack-minded Tiger Pataudi, captain extraordinaire, did just that when he led his men to a five-wicket win over Graham Dowling’s New Zealand at Dunedin in 1968. It was a breakthrough moment for Indian
Cricket.
Erapalli Prasanna, that off-spinner with an incisive mind and a bag of tricks, turned the Test India’s way with his six for 94 in the Kiwi second innings. And India reached the target of 200 with stylish southpaw Ajit Wadekar contributing a priceless 71, that followed an innings of 80 in the first.
2) First Series victory on foreign soil -
46 years ago in 1971,India created history under Ajit Wadekar's leadership when they defeated England 1-0 in a three-Test rubber to register its maiden series win in England.
The series was one of the stepping stones for the Indian team in their quest to break the tag of minnows and join among the top ranks of cricketing nations.
3) India won 1983 World Cup -
25 June,1983, a match that brighten the future of Indian Cricket. The venue was Lord’s, the spiritual home ground of cricket where India created history by winning it’s first world cup under the leadership of Kapil Dev.
With the help K. Srikkanth’s 38 runs and Mohinder Amarnath’s 26 runs India managed to get a total of 183 runs. With the help of Amarnath's allrounder effort 3/12 and Madan Lal’s 3/21 and Iconic catch of Sir Viv Richards taken by Kapil Dev( the turning point of the match) helped India
to win the world cup.
4) Kerry Packer World Series -
The World Championship of Cricket was held in Australia to commemorate 150 years of European settlement in Victoria.
Riding on Ravi Shastri’s brilliant all-round performance India won 1985 World Series cricket in Australia, beating Pakistan by eight wickets in an one-sided final.This was unexpected but to everybody’s surprise, India won every single match of the World Series.
5) Gavaskar completed 10,000 test runs -
On March 7, 1987, a quick single nudged through the slips to a Pakistani bowler named Ejaz Fakih took Sunil Manohar Gavaskar from his innings score of 57 to 58 at the Sardar Patel Stadium in rural Motera outside Ahmedabad.Fifty seven to fifty eight sent Gavaskar from 9,999 to the first 10,000th run in Test cricket.
Sunil Gavaskar became the first batsman in the world to score 10,000 runs in test cricket.
6) Desert Storm in Sharjah (1998) -
This series was billed as Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne, the world's greatest batsman against the world's best spinner. But Tendulkar beat the Aussie to pulp, smashing 143 to help India qualify for the Coca Cola Cup final. And just to prove that it was no fluke, he scored 134 two days later as India beat Australia in the final.
That series is fondly remembered for Sachin's 'Desert Storm'.
7) Laxman-Dravid show at Eden (2001) -
Australia had won the first in mumbai and they were on their way to win the second test in kolkata as well.Australia had posted a mammoth 445 in the first innings in Kolkata. Things got worse for India who were all out for 171 and asked to follow on. That is when VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) put on a 376-run stand which turned the match on its head. India won on the final day thanks to Harbhajan Singh's heroics and then went on to win the series 3-1.
8) Natwest Trophy Final(2002) -
India made to the final of Natwest Trophy. In the final, England posted a huge total of 326 runs on the scoreboard. In the response India was 146/5 then Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif played excellent cricket and helped India win the trophy.
Ganguly took off his shirt in public and brandished it in air to celebrate India’s victory.
9) India reached the 2003 World Cup Final -
20 years after Kapil Dev had led India to World Cup glory, Sourav Ganguly almost repeated the feat. But Sourav Ganguly led Indian team lost in the final against Australia. Despite the defeat the young Indian side earned praise for showing a lot of spirit during the mega event of cricket in South Africa.
10) Virender Sehwag’s 300 in Multan -
India was touring Pakistan for the first time in 15 years and the cricket team was being seen as a peace envoy. But there was nothing peaceful about the way India played as they beat Pakistan 3-2 in the ODI series and then 2-1 in the Test series. The series is fondly remembered for Virender Sehwag's blistering 309 which earned him the moniker, 'The Sultan of Multan'.
Indian Opener Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to score 300 runs in a single inning in test cricket.
11) India won inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 -
Have you ever thought young Indian team of 2007 will be able to win the World Cup? Just like 1983 world cup nobody thought that India will able to do this task.Young MS Dhoni was appointed as captain of the Indian team for the inaugural World T20 in South Africa. But India were a force to reckon with as they rampaged their way to the final. The victory became all the more memorable because India beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the final.
12) India beat Australia in Perth -
India registered one of their most famous overseas Test victories in Perth in 2007-08. Anil Kumble’s team India defeated Australia by 72 runs in the third test on the fastest pitch in the world.
RP Singh,Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma performed very well in that match.
13) The maiden double hundred in ODI -
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar registered one more record on his name on 24 Feb,2010. Sachin became the first batsman to score a double hundred in ODI’s. Master hit unbeaten 200(off 147 balls, 4×25, 6×3).
14) India won 2011 world cup -
How could Sachin Tendulkar retire from cricket without a World Cup? 28 years after Kapil's Devils had created history in England, Dhoni's Team India played out a memorable World Cup at home and lifted the cup. No Indian cricket fan will ever forget Dhoni's monstrous six that sealed the victory against Lanka.
15) India won Champions Trophy in 2013 -
He had won the ODI World Cup and the World T20. How was MS Dhoni not going to win the third ICC event? India overcame hosts England in the final by 5 runs to finally get their
hands on the trophy that should've rightfully been theirs in 2002.
