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Throughout the years, Indian cricket has produced so many moments for their fans to cheer. Out of all those moments, this Independence Day we have handpicked five most iconic moments in the history of Indian cricket team that will always be remembered by every Indian fan.

1983 Cricket World Cup

In a tournament where India started off as an underdog, neither the team nor the fans had the belief of even making it through the group stages. But the only thing Kapil Dev and his team had in mind was to go out and give their hundred percent on the given day. India’s campaign commenced with a win over defending champions West Indies and was followed by a win against Zimbabwe as well.

Soon after, the team got a taste of reality when they faced consecutive defeats at hands of Australia and West Indies in the group stage. After this, the team made a comeback and defeated Zimbabwe, Australia and England. Kapil Dev’s 175 not out against Zimbabwe, the then highest score in an ODI is still considered to be one of the finest innings in cricket.

Read | A world beyond the Caribbean charm

In final, India faced mighty West Indies who had the likes of Sir Viv Richards and Michael Holding with others to have won the tournament’s both previous editions in 1975 and 1979. India posted a mere total of 183 which they defended, bowling out the Caribbean side within 140. This win was nothing less than a miracle and the world go to witness such a performance by Indians first time at the world stage.

Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup in that iconic Lord’s balcony which also marked the beginning of a cricketing revolution in the country.

2001 Eden Gardens Test

India were already 1-0 down in the three-match Border-Gavaskar trophy in 2001 and were facing the Australian team, which was on a 16-match winning streak in Tests. In the second match at Kolkata, Australia were batting confidently until spinner Harbhajan Singh took the first-ever Test match hat-trick by an Indian bowler.

Their batting collapsed from 193/1 to 269/8 but they eventually went on to make 445 in the first innings. When India came on to bat, they were reduced to 171 and were facing an embarrassing follow-on.

But who knew what kind of motivation Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were carrying. 274 runs behind, India again started batting and the top order gave a decent start but could not capitalize on it. Finally, Laxman and Ganguly stood for a 100-run partnership, but soon the Indian captain was sent back to pavilion by Glenn McGrath. Now at 232/4, Rahul Dravid stepped in. Day 3 of the game ended with Laxman scoring 109 and Dravid on 7 and India were still 20 runs behind.

Day four of the match was written to the names of both these batting legends. They went on to bat throughout the day with Laxman Scoring 291, the highest score by an Indian in Tests at that time, whereas Dravid, who was suffering from a viral fever on that day, scored 180 to help their team to 657 (dec).

The final day of the test saw Australia bow down in front of Indian bowlers while chasing 384 in a minimum of 75 overs. They were bowled out at 212 as Harbhajan Singh took another six wickets in the second innings after picking up seven in the first. This will always be remembered as one of the greatest Test matches India have ever played.

2002 Natwest Series Final

India toured England in 2002, playing a three-match Test series and a triangular series that includes Sri Lanka. The Test series was drawn 1-1 and England were to play India in the final of the triangular series at Lord’s. It was indeed India’s remark on the world stage as a fresh and young Indian side was on the verge of creating history.

England started off really well, with Marcus Trescothick and Naseer Hussain both scoring centuries and posted a target of 325. In reply to this, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly along with destructive batsman Virendra Sehwag gave a solid start to the chase. But some quick wickets put India again in a difficult situation. It was now time for youngsters like Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif to rehabilitate the chase as their team were 146/5 and still required 180 runs in 26 overs, which looked quite impossible.  

The game got a nail-biting finish on the third ball of the final over when Zaheer Khan nudged the ball into the covers and the batsmen rushed off for a single. An overthrow was pushed eventually, and the final run was taken which marked India’s historic win at Lord’s. The whole Indian camp ran down the dressing room to celebrate but it was Dada who stole the show by taking his jersey off in that iconic Lord’s balcony. A vision not forgotten by many. 

2007 ICC World T20

The inaugural T20I World Cup was staged in South Africa in 2007 where 12 teams became part of the tournament and India were crowned the first-ever champions. After India dramatically bowed out of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in West Indies in the group stages, a set of youngsters was sent to the African continent.

India’s first match was washed out against Scotland and they were left with a must-win match against arch-rivals Pakistan in the group stage. The match was tied and both the teams were called out for first and the only bowl out in cricket history. India won the bowl out as Pakistan failed to hit the stump even once.

India then lost to New Zealand in Super 8 but beat England and South Africa in the other matches. The match against England also saw Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in an over to a young Stuart Broad. The semifinal was against Australia who had more experience of playing T20Is but the man in form, Yuvraj Singh was in great touch as he scored 70 to help India reach 188. The bowling department complimented well to stop Aussies at 173.

India again faced their neighbours Pakistan in a low scoring final that saw a nail-biting finish as Misbah-ul-Haq tried to paddle-scoop over fine-leg but only managed to sky the ball and was caught by Sreesanth at short fine-leg.

2011 ICC Cricket World Cup

India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were jointly hosting the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and India were always the top contenders to clinch the title.

The Men in Blue began their campaign with group stage matches against Bangladesh, England, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies. They won four out of six matches and lost one against South Africa while drawing one against England.

In the quarter-finals, they faced defending champions Australia and progressed into the semis to face Pakistan.

The final was played on 2 April between India and Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. India were crowned champions after winning by six wickets with only 10 balls remaining.

Indian captain MS Dhoni was named man of the match after an unbeaten match-winning inning of 91 runs off 79 balls and Yuvraj Singh was awarded man of the series for his all-round performance.

Feature Image Courtesy: Twitter/@BCCI

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