25 Years Of Eden Miracle: Reliving India's Epic 2001 Victory That Ended Australia's 16-Match Streak
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai: It's time to go down memory lane and reopen an unforgettable chapter in the annals of Indian cricket folklore that happened 25 years ago at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Yes, mention Kolkata and 2001 and one could conjure visuals of the legendary VVS Laxman-Rahul Dravid partnership of 376 runs that galvanized and energized India into winning a Test match after they were asked to follow-on by the then mighty Australia, led by the astute and steely Steve Waugh.
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The invincible Australians were on a rampage across the cricketing world then coming into the Kolkata Test with a 16-match winning streak, a world record at the time, with the Sourav Ganguly-led India team ending that run in epic fashion in front of a capacity crowd at the joyous Eden Gardens.
Personally, for this correspondent, it was the match that was the turning point in Indian cricket at the turn of the century at a time when the general public was losing its confidence in the country's most loved sport owing to the infamous match-fixing scandal of 2000, better known as Cronjegate.
Then came the match against Australia which completely changed the trajectory of Indian cricket in the manner in which it was played out.
Batting first, Australia were all out 445 largely due to the efforts of skipper Steve Waugh (110), openers Matthew Hayden (97), Michael Slater (42) and Justin Langer (58).
In response, India were bundled out for a paltry 171 with only Laxman's 59 being the only score of note as Glenn McGrath ran through the Indian innings with 4/18 and Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Shane Warne scalped two wickets apiece.
Australia coach John Buchanan then made a decision that he would later come to regret and that was to make the hosts follow-on.
What ensued was the stuff of dreams as India, who were at one stage 232/4 after the wicket of captain Sourav Ganguly, were propelled to a massive 657/7 declared in 178 overs.
The chief architects of that total would be Laxman and Dravid, who played the innings of their careers, with the former slamming a then Indian Test record score of 281 for the highest individual score and Dravid cracking 180 as their fifth-wicket partnership of 376 runs saw them bat through an entire day mentally batting Australia out of the game.
To see this magic unfolding in front of TV screens those days was an incredible sight as office-goers returning from work would cram into neighbourhood electronics showrooms or hair salons to catch a glimpse of two Indian batters scripting something truly special.
Mumbai Races: King Ke Leads Field In C N Wadia Gold Cup Grade 2 Showdown At MahalaxmiLaxman's masterful innings of 281 comprised 44 fours and came in 452 balls and 631 minutes while Dravid's workmanlike 180 was carved in 353 balls and 446 minutes with 20 fours.
Australia set a daunting target of 384 were then bundled out for 212 in the fourth innings with Harbhajan Singh's career-defining 6/73 rocking them when he scalped a Test hat-trick in emphatic style as the Eden erupted in uninhibited joy and delirium.
For those present at the Eden Gardens on that fateful day, it would have been their moment of a lifetime having witnessed one of the greatest or perhaps some would argue, the greatest Test to have ever been played.