India takes on New Zealand at Green Park, Kanpur on the 22nd of September in what will be its 500th Test. India have won 129 out of the previous 499 Tests and in the course of that have achieved some memorable victories. In some of these Tests, India had their backs to the wall but still fought hard and registered notable victories. Here is a recap of 5 of the best.

West Indies vs India, 3rd Test, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad, 7-12 April 1976.

India were set a target of 403 in the 4th innings which was considered a huge task in those days. Clive Lloyd, the West Indies captain had gone in with 3 spinners. Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath and Gundappa Vishwanath all made sizable contributions of 102, 85, and 112 respectively as India achieved the sizable target in 147 overs. This remains India’s highest successful chase in Test history and stood as a world record for 27 years until West Indies chased down 418/7 against Australia at Antigua in May 2003. Because of India’s superb batting against the spinners, Clive Lloyd decided to go in with the 4 fast bowlers theory after this match which served West Indies so well over the years.

India vs Australia, 2nd Test, Border- Gavaskar Trophy, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 11-15th March 2001.

Australia batted first and scored 445 in their first innings and in reply, India could muster only 171, giving Australia a lead of 274 runs. Australia enforced the follow-on and India made a tactical master-stroke. They promoted VVS Laxman to the number 3 position as he had compiled a well-made 59 in the first innings. He put on a partnership of 376 with Rahul Dravid for the 5th wicket to take the game away from Australia. Laxman scored 281, which was then the highest score by an Indian batsman in Tests. Rahul Dravid also contributed 180 to steer India to 657/7declared giving them a lead of 383. They set Australia a target of 384 to win. Australia were bowled out for 212 in 68.3 overs with Harbhajan Singh taking 6/73 and Sachin Tendulkar taking 3/31. India won by 171 runs. This was only the 3rd time in Test history that a team won a Test after being asked to follow on.

India vs England, 3rd Test, Headingley, Leeds, 22-26th August 2002

India won the toss and took the brave decision of opting to bat on a green pitch. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly all scored centuries as India piled up a mammoth 628/8 declared in 180.1 overs. Even though Headingley is a venue that normally favours the fast bowlers, the Indian spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh came to the party taking 11 of the 19 wickets that fell to Indian bowlers. England were bowled out for 273 and 309 in their two innings and India emerged victorious by an innings and 46 runs. What was special about this victory was that India had made a bold decision to bat first in spite of knowing that the pitch was conducive for seam and swing bowling on the first morning of the match.

Australia vs India, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 12-16th December 2003.

The pitch at the Adelaide Oval is always good for batting and Australia capitalised on winning the toss and taking first strike. They scored 556 and then reduced India to 85/4. Once again, it was the duo of Laxman and Dravid who came to India’s rescue, and stitched together a partnership of 303 for the 5 th wicket. India were bowled out for 523 with Dravid top scoring with 233, giving Australia a lead of 33 runs. In their 2nd innings, Australia were bowled out for just 196 with Agarkar taking a career best 6/41 and Tendulkar taking the crucial wickets of Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh, both caught brilliantly by Rahul Dravid in the slips. India needed 230 to win and achieved the target for the loss of 6 wickets with Dravid playing a match winning unbeaten 72. This remains India’s most famous overseas win in Tests. Australia’s score of 556 was the third highest in a losing cause in a team’s first innings in Tests. This shows the enormity of India’s achievement.

Australia vs India, 3rd Test, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, WACA Ground, Perth, 16-19th January 2008

Perth is known to be a venue where the fast bowlers get a lot of assistance from the pitch. So, India’s first innings total of 330 was quite adequate if they bowled and fielded well. In Australia’s reply, RP Singh took 4/68 and all the other bowlers chipped in as India bowled Australia for 212 to take a first innings lead of 118. In India’s second innings, Laxman top scored with 79 as India were bowled out for 294, setting Australia a target of 413 to win the match. Australia were dismissed for 340 and India won by a margin of 72 runs. This match was famous for the spell that Ishant Sharma bowled to Ricky Ponting. Ponting later admitted that this was one of the finest spells of fast bowling that he had faced in Tests. India remains the only Asian team to win a Test at Perth.

These five Tests were some of India’s best victories in Tests taking into account the quality of the opposition, the situation of the match and the enormity of the task involved.