That smell of victory

On March 22, 2001 - India beat Australia by two wickets in a Test match in Chennai - and thereby won the series 2-1. It was one of the most incredible comebacks in cricket history made all the more sweeter by the fact that it was against one of the great teams of all time - Steve Waugh’s Australia.

India lost the first Test in Mumbai within three days. They were forced to follow-on in the second Test in Kolkata – and were staring at an innings defeat when Laxman and Dravid put together a partnership for the ages before Harbhajan Singh helped them pull off an improbable win on the final day.

The series-decider in Chennai was another classic - and as late as the final session on the final day, all four results were possible.

I went back 20 years to speak to those who were in Chepauk (and some who weren’t) to recreate the dramatic finish to a most dramatic series.

Excerpt:

The match, the series and the possibility of one of the greatest comebacks in history hinged on the final day. Australia started 131 ahead and capitulated - one last time in the series - to Singh, who finished with 15 wickets in the Test and 32 in the series. Still, with 154 to defend in what was most certainly his final Test in India, Waugh had history on his side. No team had chased over 125 to win a Test on this ground. No team other than West Indies in Barbados, led by Brian Lara's monumental 153 not out, had pursued over 100 in the final innings to beat Waugh's Australia. 

And yet, few teams had a batsman of the calibre of Laxman, who, across two Tests, was not so much batting as dancing: the eyes alert to the length of the ball, the feet responding with assured strides, the body in sync with the approaching ball, the bat whistling through its arc, the musicality of bat striking ball, the shapeliness of the entire fluid motion… ball after ball after ball. Even a man as self-effacing as Laxman sheds his modesty when asked about the final day.

You can read the full piece on The Cricket Monthly here.