India's iconic series wins: Historic England triumph, Virender Sehwag mauls Sri Lanka
On the eve of India's 500th Test, we take you through some of their most iconic series triumphs across time and continents.
India's series victory against England, 2007
It was torrid times for Indian cricket following Guru Greg saga and India's unceremonious exit from the 2007 world cup. India had entered the three-match series in England without a coach as Greg Chappell's tenure was over after India suffered an early exit from the cricket World Cup in the Caribbean. In the first Test at Lord's, England were a wicket away from beating India when bad light and rain forced a draw. In the second Test at Trent Bridge, India completed a seven-wicket win over England to take a 1-0 lead. The visitors were led by a fiery Zaheer Khan, who took a 9-wicket haul, and Sachin Tendulkar's 91 in the first innings. The third Test at The Oval ended in a draw as India registered their first Test series win in England in 21 years. (Kumble's Perfect-10 to Sehwag's Multan-Triple: Iconic performances in India's 500-Test history)
Most Runs (India): Dinesh Karthik - 263
Most Wickets (India): Zaheer Khan - 18
India vs West Indies 2007
India earned their first series win in the Caribbean after 35 years. In the first Test, the West Indies hung on in a dramatic final session to deny India victory at Antigua. In the second Test at St, Lucia, captain Brian Lara hit a battling 120 as West Indies salvaged a draw. The third Test at St Kitts too failed to produce a result as India batted out time to earn a draw. In the fourth and deciding Test match at Jamaica, India, aided by skipper Rahul Dravid's solid batting and Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth's bowling, beat the hosts by 49 runs to create history. (Also read: ICC chairman Shashank Manohar congratulates BCCI for India's 500th Test)
Most Runs (India): Rahul Dravid - 496
Most Wickets (India): Anil Kumble - 23
India in New Zealand (2008-09): India won 1-0
India clinched their first Test series win in New Zealand since 1968 and it was one of their famous overseas wins under captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In their opening match of the three-Test series, India recorded their first win in New Zealand in 33 years as a six-wicket haul from Harbhajan Singh took them to a ten-wicket victory in Hamilton. The second and the third Tests were drawn. (Also read: India historically a dominant force vs New Zealand: A stats preview)
Most Runs (India): Gautam Gambhir - 445
Most Wickets (India): Harbhajan Singh - 16
India vs Sri Lanka 2009 (2-1) - No. 1
Indian cricket touched an unprecedented high as MS Dhoni's men became the No.1 Test team for the first time, dislodging South Africa in the ICC Rankings. After playing out a draw in the high-scoring first Test at Ahmedabad, India secured their 100th Test victory by comprehensively beating Sri Lanka by an innings and 144 runs in Kanpur. In the third Test, India became the world's top-ranked Test team for the first time after beating Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in Mumbai.
Most Runs (India): Virender Sehwag - 491
Most Wickets (India): Harbhajan Singh - 13
India's series win against Australia at home, 2014
In one of the most dominant displays, India completed a historic 4-0 Test series whitewash over Australia. The hosts started the series with a convincing eight-wicket win over Australia in the first Test at Chennai, courtesy skipper MS Dhoni's double ton, Virat Kohli's century, Sachin Tendulkar's gritty 81 and Ravichandran Ashwin's quality spin bowling. In the second Test at Hyderabad, India beat Australia by an innings and 135 runs to take a 2-0 lead as Australia became the first team in Test history to declare in their first innings and then lose by an innings. Cheteshwar Pujara slammed a double ton while Murali Vijay scored a 167 to lead India to a massive first innings total. After that, it was Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who forced Australia to surrender with a day to spare. In the third Test, India defeated Australia by six wickets at Mohali to complete a series victory over the tourists. The hosts' victory had been set up by a scintillating knock by man-of-the-match Shikhar Dhawan, who scored the fastest century on debut in Test cricket as India compiled 499 all out in their first innings in reply to Australia's 408 all out. India were set 133 to win after bowling out Australia for 223 in their second innings and Dhoni smashed three consecutive fours to earn victory with 15 balls remaining on the final day. In the final Test match at Delhi, India won by six wickets to complete the whitewash. Pujara starred with the bat, while Ashwin and Jadeja broke the visitors' bone with a commanding display.
Most Runs (India): Murali Vijay - 430
Most Wickets (India): R Ashwin - 29
India vs Sri Lanka, 2015
India secured their first Test series victory in Sri Lanka since 1993. It was also the dawn of Virat Kohli's Test captaincy. After losing the first Test at Galle by 63 runs, India scripted a valiant fightback in the next two matches to take home the series 2-1. India defeated Sri Lanka by 278 runs in the second Test at Colombo to deny Kumar Sangakkara victory in his final game before his international retirement. Chasing an unlikely 413 to win, and beginning the fifth day on 72/2, the hosts collapsed to 134 all out. Off-spinner Ashwin took 5/42 and leg-spinner Amit Mishra 3/29 to level the series 1-1. In the third Test, India secured a 117-run win over the hosts to complete a rare series victory on the Sri Lankan soil.
Most Runs (India): Virat Kohli - 233
Most Wickets (India): R Ashwin - 21
India vs South Africa, 2015
In a series dominated by spinners, India made South Africa bite the dust and completed a 3-0 win over the Proteas in the four-Test series. The hosts put the visitors under early pressure by winning the first Test at Mohali by 108 runs. The second Test at Bangalore ended with a damp draw with four days of washout. The third Test at Nagpur ended within 3 days with India winning the match by 124 runs. The pitch at Nagpur's Jamtha Stadium, a dust bowl, drew a lot of flak for being substandard and was later deemed 'poor' by the ICC. In the final Test at Delhi, the hosts, led by Ajinkya Rahane's century and spin twins Ashwin and Jadeja, completed a 337-run victory over South Africa and won the series 3-0.
Most Runs (India): Ajinkya Rahane - 266
Most Wickets (India): R Ashwin - 31