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So a few days ago, I was watching this series of videos from Harsha Bhogle where he was reminiscing the five best test victories for team India. I wanted to do the same for one day’s. Now when you sit down and think about the best 5 five games, you can probably count 10. There are so many marquee games that come to mind. I think This will be difficult. But let me try. So there goes my list of top 5 ODI games for India.
5) 28th February 2012, India vs Sri Lanka
India started well in the series with wins over Sri lanka and Australia , then tied a game with sri lanka and lost two versus Australia. All this meant that India had to win its last game with sri lanka with a bonus point and then, hope Australia defeats Sri lanka to qualify for the finals. India won the toss and chose to field. What this meant was whatever, Sri Lanka put on board India had to chase it down in 40 overs or less to get a bonus point. It was a good batting wicket in hobart and India would have wanted to get sri lanka out for less than 250. But, what followed was master class from Dilshan and Sangakkara. They amassed 320 for 4 in the allotted 50 overs. India needed to chase 321 in 40 overs with an asking rate of 8 from the onset to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. And what followed was a master class from Kohli. He scored 133 in 86 balls. The best death bowler at the time, Lasith malinga went for 96 runs in his 7 overs. This match showed the changing mentality of India cricket. But, above all it showed fearlessness , a new spirit in the team. Never say die attitude was exhilarating to see. We knew then that Indian cricket had come of age then. Gone were the days where we would have surrendered to huge targets and now we could any challenge head on.
4) Desert Storm at Sharjah, 1998
Just shy of his 25th birthday, Sachin had achieved a lot in his short career but that innings was something else. Chasing a target of 285 in 50 overs, India needed 254 runs to trump New Zealand on Net Run Rate and qualify for the final. And as was the case in those days, we Indians had thought of that as our only target. We thought let us somehow score that 254 and qualify for the finals. I was 6 then, so obviously didn’t watch the game live. However, years later I saw it in a little 1 hour episode of cricket classics on ten sports. I didn’t knew what had happened in the game. So I watched with bated breath to see if we can reach 254. And then Sachin happened. From fleming to Warne, Everyone was smacked left right and centre. I think that day only one Indian was thinking of 285 and not 254 and that was Sachin Tendulkar. And mind you, If the desert storm didn’t come and break his peak concentration, who knows he might have done it. We lost 4 overs to the storm. Needed 236 in 46 now. Sachin got out on 242 and we lost that match but qualified for the finals. Sachin scored 143 in 130 odd bowls, a strike rate of over 100 was almost unheard of back then.
3) July 13, 2002 vs England, Natwest Trophy final
I was 10 at the time and was a huge cricket fanatic by then. I remember that clearly, India came into the tournament after a string of loses in the finals. A lot of people questioned India’s temperament in big games. The game started, England batted first on beautiful sunny day at lords. What followed was two centuries from Trescothik and Naseer Hussain. Naseer Hussain was under a lot of criticism , that he cant bat at number 3 for england. I remember him pointing at the number 3 written on the back of his t-shirt after scoring the hundred, as if to say he belongs there. India was set a target of 326 runs in 50 overs. India raced to 100 in 14 overs with sehwag and ganguly belting the english bowlers. Then came the come back , we lost 5 wickets for 40 odd runs. At 146-5, when sachin was bowled by ashley giles, I switched off my Tv set. A 10 year old boy, teary eyed, went back to watch something else with his family. I missed almost 1 hour of the game, where two boys were playing like men. Yuvraj Singh and mohammad kaif, fresh off the under 19 world cup win, were playing innings of their life. And then I switched on the TV set, As soon as I did, yuvraj got out on 69. Trying to play dab to fine leg, got a top edge and short fine leg took an easy catch. He was distraught. He walked so slowly to the dressing room, harsha bhogle who was on commentary at the time said it would take a crane to take him off the ground. Kaif was playing well with harbhajan singh. The turbanator hit a one hand six on the leg side. Then we lost two back to back wickets to flintoff. The game was very much in the balance, with zaheer khan and kaif, we somehow scraped over the line. I was exhilarated and so was ganguly. I was so proud of the Indian team. Mind you it was england, where we had a tendency of giving it away. From teary eyes at 146-5 to teary eyes at 326-8, life had turned a full circle for me.
2) April 2, 2011 vs Sri Lanka, World cup final
I was preparing for my JEE exam, which was scheduled to be 11th. I woke up at 4 in the morning, studied till 2:30 pm, and then saw the toss. India were bowling, put the TV on mute and started studying again. The whole Sri lankan innings was watched on mute, mostly studying with a glance or two every 10-15 minutes to just check the score. Mehela jayawardene, score a brilliant hundred. When you set 275 to chase in world cup final, you are almost 60-40 ahead in the game. And with, 31 for 2 match was all but over. My heart sank. Sehwag and Sachin were in great form throughout the tournament. WE had a very worrisome middle order, with dhoni woefully out of touch. Yuvraj was in prime form and I had no doubts even then that he would be the man of the tournament. But, what did dhoni do? He came in ahead of yuvraj and scored a match winning 90 odd to win the only world cup win I watch live. Wow, what feeling that was. But in all that, we forget a little young man from delhi who scored a 97 when the team was struggling. Gautam gambhir’s innings that day was pure class and often forgotten in the blistering inning played by dhoni.
1) India vs West Indies, lords, 1983 world cup final
So which world cup final was India’s greatest? Many people of my generation would rank MSD’s victory greater than that of kapil dev’s. But, for me this was the best moment for India in its ODI history. Rank underdogs, playing the best team in the world. The dibbly dobbly pacers that we had vs the mighty marshal and holding. It was david v/s goliath in the truest sense, and we were no goliath. Setting 184 to win in 60 overs to batting line up boasting of the likes of vivian richards, haynes, loyd and greenidge, at the mid break everyone thought India will lose. But, We had other plans. Turning point of the game, was that backward running catch taken by kapil dev to dismiss Viv Richards. The ball was in the air for eternity, but our captain took one of the best catches ever, and this turned the tide in our favour. We won the world cup, and the kapil dev’s team inspired a generation of cricketers. We are a cricketing nation, because of that victory and it would turn out to shape the sporting landscape of a country of 1 billion people. This was where it all started and this is where my list will end.
