India made its test debut against England on 25th June 1932 at Lords Cricket Ground, London. So far they have played 521 test matches, winning 144, losing 160, drawn 216 and 1 tied test match. The record of Indian Cricket team in spin-friendly conditions in India has been superb.
Under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, the Indian team drew the test series 1-1 in 2003/04 in Australia, drew test series 1-1 against England in England which changed their attitude of winning in overseas conditions. Rahul Dravid as a captain won the overseas test series in England during 2007.
In the past few years, the Indian Cricket team slipped their chances of winning many test matches from great positions due to poor captaincy and other factors.
Here we look at the 5 test matches that Indian should have won:-
1. India Vs England, July- Aug 2011, Trent Bridge
In the 2011/12 tour to England, India lost the first test match at Lords by 196 runs. In the second test match played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham from 29th July to 1st August. Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bowl first.
A superb bowling spell by pace trio of Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and S Sreesanth had reduced the hosts to 124 for 8. Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann partnership of 73 for the 9th wicket helped England post 221. Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and S Sreesanth picked 3 wickets each.
Despite Rahul Dravid 117, VVS Laxman 54, Yuvraj Singh 62, the Indian batsmen could only take a lead of 67 runs in the first innings. India was 267 for 4 and then came the hattrick of Stuart Broad who dismissed Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Praveen Kumar to create a collapse. The right arm fast bowler finished with figures of 6/46. India was bowled out for 288 runs in the first innings.
England batsmen piled on big runs in the second innings with 159 from Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen 63, Eoin Morgan 70, wicketkeeper Matt Prior 73, Tim Bresnan 90 and Stuart Broad 44 helped the hosts post a massive 544 runs. Praveen Kumar picked 4 wickets bowling 36 overs, Ishant Sharma bowled 29.2 overs and took 2 wickets, S Sreesanth also took 2 wickets bowling 27.2 overs.
Chasing a massive target 478 runs to win, India were bowled out for 158 losing the match by a massive 319 runs on the 4th day. Despite the Indian bowlers reducing the England team to 124 for 8 in the first innings, they could not clean up the tail quickly. Indian batsmen could not convert starts into big scores and could get a big lead. While bowling, India played with only 3 bowlers with Harbhajan Singh suffering from stomach problem.
2. India Vs Australia, December 2014, Brisbane
Despite Virat Kohli’s great efforts in the second innings of the first test match at Adelaide, Indian Cricket lost the first test match by 48 runs. The second test match between these two teams was played at Gabba, Brisbane from 17th to 20th December 2014.
Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat on the first day. A great batting effort by test specialist Murali Vijay who made 144, Ajinkya Rahane 81, Rohit Sharma 32, MS Dhoni 33, R Ashwin 35 helped the visitors post 408 in the first innings.
The Indian bowlers had reduced the hosts to 247 for 6. Due to the bad captaincy by MS Dhoni and poor bowling, Steve Smith scored 133, Mitchell Johnson 88, Mitchell Starc 52, Nathan Lyon 23 and Josh Hazlewood 32 helped Australia post 505 runs. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav took 3 wickets each while Varun Aaron and R Ashwin took 2 wickets. Australia took a lead of 97 runs in the first innings.
Despite Shikhar Dhawan’s 81, Pujara 43, the Indian batsmen could only post 224 runs in the second innings. Australia was given a target of 128 runs to win in 2nd innings. Despite Indian bowlers picking wickets, India gave away the advantage and hosts Australia won the match by 4 wickets on the 4th day.
3. India Vs New Zealand, February 2014, Wellington
It was another case for the Indian Cricket team to win an overseas test match. After losing the first test match at Auckland by 40 runs, both India and New Zealand face off each other at Basin Reserve, Wellington from 14th to 18th February 2014.
Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bowl first. A superb bowling spell by Ishant Sharma who took 6 for 51 and Mohammad Shami taking 4 for 70, helped India bowled out hosts New Zealand for 192.
India’s first innings saw Shikhar Dhawan scoring 98, Rahane a brilliant 118, MS Dhoni 68, Ravindra Jadeja 26, Zaheer Khan 22, Virat Kohli 38 helped them to post 438 runs with a lead of 246 runs.
In the second innings too, Indian bowlers reduced New Zealand to 94 for 5. Then came the stunning recovery from New Zealand as their captain of the match Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling added a massive 352 runs for the 6th wicket.
Brendon McCullum scored 302, Jimmy Neesham remained not out on 137 which helped hosts declare their innings on 680 for 8. For India, Zaheer Khan picked 5 wickets bowling 51 overs, Mohammad Shami took 2 wickets bowling 43 overs and Ravindra Jadeja took 1 wicket bowling 52 overs.
India was given a massive target of 435 on the last day and ended on 166 for 3 with Virat Kohli scoring 105. From a winning position, India could draw the match.
- India Vs Sri Lanka, August 2015, Galle
The first test match between India and Sri Lanka was played at Galle International Stadium, Galle from 12th to 15th August 2015. In that match, Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and decided to bat first. Ravichandran Ashwin 6 wickets and combined bowling effort by India bowled out the hosts Sri Lanka for just 183 runs.
Big centuries from opener Shikhar Dhawan(134), Virat Kohli (103) and Wriddhiman Saha 60 helped team India post 375 runs in the first innings taking a lead of 192 runs in the first innings. In their second innings, Sri Lanka was reduced to 95 for 5. Then came a counter-attacking knock by Dinesh Chandimal who scored a quickfire 162 off 169 balls, Lahiru Thirimanne 44, Jehan Mubarak 49 helped Sri Lanka to score 367 runs.
Given a target of 176 runs, the Indian batsmen were not able to chase down the modest total and lost the match by 63 runs. Rahane was the top scorer with 36, followed by Shikhar Dhawan with 28. The hearth was a pick of bowlers for Sri Lanka with 7 for 48 and helped hosts, Sri Lanka, to win a stage a remarkable comeback win. After dominating Sri Lanka for most parts of the match, a great knock by Dinesh Chandimal took the game away from India. In the second innings, none of quality Indian batsmen was able to play Herath spin well. The match ended on the 4th day.
5. India Vs West Indies, Jamaica, July 2016
After winning the first test match at Antigua by an innings and 92 runs, India took on West Indies in the 2nd test match played at Sabina Park, Jamaica from 30th July- 3rd August 2016. In that match, West Indies captain won the toss and decided to bat first.
A great bowling effort by the Indian bowlers especially bowled out West Indies for a paltry total of 196. Ravichandran Ashwin took 5 for 52 in first innings. India dominated West Indies bowlers with KL Rahul scoring 158, Rahane not out on 108, Pujara 46, Virat Kohli 44, Wriddhiman Saha 47 and handy knocks by tail helped post 500 for 9 declared.
India had a lead of 304 runs in the first innings. With India needing 6 wickets on the final day as West Indies were reduced to 48 for 4. On the final day, the Indian bowlers picked only 2 wickets. Roston Chase remained not out on 137 while Dowrich made 74, captain Jason Holder remained not out on 64. West Indies ended the day on 388 for 6.
Despite India being in a commanding position, the match ended in a draw.