Chasing glory – India’s top five successful chases in Test cricket
India have not seen much success in recent times while chasing huge targets in Test cricket especially during the overseas tours in the last couple of years. However, in the days gone by, India have managed to chase down tall totals in tricky last day conditions. Most of them came during the period Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag featured in the Indian batting line-up.
Here we look at India’s top five successful run-chases in Test cricket:
5) 261 vs New Zealand in 2012:
India chased down a target of 250+ on seven occasions in Test cricket but the last of them came in the 2012 Bangalore Test against New Zealand. India chased down a target of 261 for the loss of five wickets with the skipper MS Dhoni finishing off the chase with a six. New Zealand took a 12-run lead in the first innings thanks to a 7-wicket haul by Tim Southee despite Virat Kohli’s maiden Test ton at home. Virat scored an unbeaten fifty during the chase and earned the player of the match award.
4) 264 vs Sri Lanka in 2001:
The tour of 2001 to Sri Lanka put a break to India’s miserable run away from home. Sri Lanka won the first of the 3-match Test series but India bounced back with a 7-wicket win. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly scored an unbeaten 98 while Rahul Dravid scored 75 runs during a successful chase of 264. India earned success even in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
200+ successful chases for India in away tests
200 v New Zealand, Dunedin, 1968
403 v West Indies, Port of Spain, 1976
264 v Sri Lanka, Kandy, 2001
230 v Australia, Adelaide, 2003257 v Sri Lanka, Colombo PSS, #OnThisDay 2010 (Laxman 103*, Tendulkar 54, Raina 41*) pic.twitter.com/WHGwj62Dvm
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) August 7, 2019
3) 276 vs West Indies in 2011:
Ravichandran Ashwin made a dream debut in Test cricket when he took nine wickets against West Indies in 2011 Delhi including a 6-wicket haul in the 2nd innings. But Indian batting collapsed in the first essay where they ended up conceding a lead of 95 runs to the visitors. But Sachin Tendulkar’s 76-run knock backed by the fifties from Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman helped the home team to complete a chase of 276 runs for the loss of five wickets.
2) 387 vs England in 2008:
Andrew Strauss’ twin tons in the 2008 Chennai Test set India a target of 387 in four sessions. In the final session of 4th day, Virender Sehwag scored 83 from 68 balls with 11 fours and four sixes. But India lost their 4th wicket at 224 on the final day before Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh put on a big stand. The duo shared an unbeaten 165-run partnership for the 5th wicket to power India to a 6-wicket win. Sachin raised his century with the winning shot that recorded India’s first and only chase of 300+ target in a home Test.
1) 403 vs West Indies in 1976:
Chasing 400+ is not a usual occurrence as only four teams have been successful in doing so in the 143-year history of Test cricket. In the 1976 Port of Spain Test, India became only the 2nd team in this format to successfully chase a target in excess of 400 runs. West Indies set India a target of 403 after they took a 131-run lead in first-innings. Mohinder Amarnath played the anchor role in the chase scoring 85 runs during his 440-minute stay. Centuries from Sunil Gavaskar (102) and Gundappa Viswanath (112) helped India to chase for the loss of four wickets.
(Stats as on August 6, 2020)
