Twenty-one years ago, on this very day, 14 March, Indian cricket witnessed one of its greatest comebacks as VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid stitched a historic partnership of 376 runs and led India out of trouble against Australia in the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Dravid and Laxman produced a herculean effort and batted for the entire fourth Day of the Test match to take the game away from Australia, after being asked to follow-on by the visitors.
File image of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. AFP
Australia had registered a staggering 10-wicket victory in the first Test of the 3-match series and were looking to seal the series with a win in Kolkata.
The Steve Waugh-led side won the toss and chose to bat first. The Australian skipper posted a stunning 110 while Matthew Hayden made a splendid 97 and helped the team to post a huge total of 445 runs on the board in their first innings.
On the bowling side, India’s highlight was Harbhajan Singh, who became the first Indian bowler to make a Test hat-trick and picked a total of seven wickets by finishing with figures of 7/123.
Meanwhile, India was bowled out for 171 in the first innings with VVS Laxman being the only player to score a half-century.
Trailing by 274 runs, India were asked to follow-on by skipper Steve Waugh. Defeat looked inevitable for the Men in Blue.
However, what happened thereafter in the second innings was unprecedented in history. Right-handed batters Dravid and Laxman joined hands just as India was reeling at 232/4. While Laxman smashed a century on Day 3 of the match, Dravid played his role of ‘The Wall’.
The duo then batted throughout Day 4 and posted a 376-run stand for the fifth wicket, finishing the day with 589/4 on the board. VVS Laxman was dismissed on Day 5 after a heroic 281 while Dravid scored a grand 180 before being run out by Michael Kasprowicz.
Captain Sourav Ganguly finally decided to declare at 657/7 and Australia was now chasing a target of 384 runs in 75 overs remaining in the fifth and final day of the match.
Harbhajan Singh ran riot once again with a six-wicket haul. The bowler claimed his second five-wicket haul by dismissing crucial players like Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Jason Gillespie, Steve Waugh and Ricky Pointing.
Glenn McGrath was trapped plumb by Singh while India’s cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar also took 3-wickets by dismissing Australia’s best three, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne.
Australia were skittled out for 212 in 68.3 overs in the second innings as India went on to register a stunning comeback by winning the second Test match by a massive 171 runs, even after being asked to follow-on.
With this victory, India broke Australia’s winning streak of 16 Tests as the team had registered 15 consecutive Test wins earlier.
The hosts levelled the 3-match series 1-1 by winning the second Test and India further went on to win the series 2-1 against Australia.
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