Here are the best 5 moments in Indian Cricket history that fans cannot forget.
#1 Sourav Ganguly taking his shirt off on Lord’s Balcony
It was in the year 2002 NatWest series, England versus India and the series decider set up nicely at the iconic Lords ground. England after winning the toss had opted to bat first. Opener Marcus Trescothick and captain Nasser Hussain went berserk with the bat and dispatched Indian bowlers to every part of the park
The duo added 185 runs for the second wicket and helped themselves to individual centuries.
Later, Andrew Flintoff took charge to accelerate the innings and England end up with a mammoth 325/5 on board. In reply, skipper Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag came out all guns blazing at England bowlers & added a 106-run stand for the first wicket. When everything was going easy, a flurry of wickets immediately pushed India on to the backfoot. At one point, India was reeling at 146/5 before Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh came up with impressive knocks by adding 121 runs for the sixth wicket where latter was caught.
All eyes were on Kaif who remained unbeaten on 87 and took India over the line by 2 wickets at the end and England couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Amidst all the jubilation on the field, Indian fans got to witness the most memorable & aggressive celebrations that cricket has seen with Ganguly removing his shirt on the balcony of Lords and swinging it in ecstasy to give it back to Flintoff who had celebrated in similar fashion after winning an ODI against the home team.
#2 Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes against Stuart Broad
Yuvraj Singh is one such Indian player who has made a name for himself in Indian cricket and has been part of many memorable moments of Indian cricket history. One of the most unforgettable achievements of his splendid career is the record he created during T20 World cup 2007 at Kingsmead, Durban. That day, Yuvraj clobbered six sixes in one over against Stuart Broad. India was off to good start as both openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir raced to quick fifties. After 18 overs, India was 171-3 with Yuvraj and MS Dhoni at the crease.
Just before the over, Yuvraj had a heated argument with England’s Andrew Flintoff where Flintoff tries to say few words to Yuvraj. But Yuvi had the fire in him which reflected straightaway when Stuart Broad came in to ball the 19th over and Yuvraj took out all his anger hitting Broad for six sixes to every part of the ground.
That moment has become one of the most iconic ones in Indian cricket history.
#3 Dhoni’s World Cup winning six at Wankhede Stadium
The 2011 world cup had filled fans with a lot of expectations about India making most out of the conditions. Team India sent defending champions Australia packing in the quarterfinals and shunned arch-rivals Pakistan in semifinals to play for the all-important trophy against Sri Lanka in finals. The match had begun with Sri Lanka putting up a great score on the board, with Mahela Jayawardene scoring a fine hundred to silence Indian crowd at Wankhede stadium. In reply, India was jolted by Sri Lanka when they had Virender Sehwag for a duck and Sachin Tendulkar for a mere 18 sending Indian fans into deep silence.
But Gautam Gambhir had other ideas, whose fighting 97 took the innings closer to the target for India. When Virat fell for a stunner from Dilshan, Dhoni walked in and played the Sri Lankan bowlers all around to score unbeaten 91 off 79 balls and in Yuvraj Singh’s company, to carry India over the line with a magical hit off Nuvan Kulasekara over long on to win the world cup for India in emphatic style.
Of all the things that World cup victory and Dhoni will be remembered for, that winning six in the final will undoubtedly be the everlasting moment for the fans.
#4 Dhoni running Bangladesh player out on the last ball in T20 WC 2016 at Bangalore
India taking on Bangladesh in an important group match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium and had posted a meager score of 146 on the board after batting first. Bangladesh bowlers were impressive their game, picking up wickets at regular intervals.
In reply, the Tigers got off to a good start ably supported by the veteran Tamim Iqbal’s 35 from 32 balls. India kept pegging the wickets column as innings progressed but Shakib Al-Hasan stood his ground to bring Bangladesh close to the target. But towards the end, it all came down to 11 runs required to win from 6 balls.
Dhoni trusts Hardik Pandya to bowl the final over as every other bowler had finished their quota of overs.
This was Bangladesh’s game to lose and that is exactly what happened from there onwards as Pandya kept bowling low full tosses and batsmen holed out in the deep.
It all came down to 2 runs from 1 ball. Pandya bowls a short ball outside off-stump which batsman can’t get bat on and Dhoni, who had removed his right glove to be able to throw properly, collects the ball and sprints towards the stumps to run batsman thereby denying the single and leaving the Bangladesh teary-eyed.
#5 Dinesh Karthik’s last ball six to seal Nidahas Trophy 2018
It was all but a neighboring affair in which Sri Lanka Cricket board had invited its neighbors to play in Nidahas Trophy to celebrate Sri Lanka’s 70th year of Independence. All the three teams looked equally strong and competitive on the field but it was Bangladesh that caused a major upset knocking hosts Sri Lanka, to seal the spot in finals to play against India. It was a hard pill to swallow for the Sri Lankan fans as their team was not only defeated but also mocked by an infamous ‘Nagin’ celebration move from Bangladesh players.
Then came the finals and Sri Lankan fans turned up in huge numbers just to see India defeated Bangladesh to avenge their loss. It was pretty evident too- Sri Lankan fans cheering every run India scored and celebrating every boundary that came their way. It was almost going to be another heartbreaking day for the fans only to be saved by Dinesh Karthik heroics.
Dinesh Karthik pulled off a Javed Miandad with a last-ball six as India snatched the victory from the jaws of Bangladesh. Needing five off the final delivery, Karthik carted Soumya Sarkar over extra-cover as India held its nerve to chase down a target of 167 in 20 overs. Karthik’s contribution of 29 in just 8 balls was no less than a century in the context of the game which had two boundaries and three sixes —the last of them will forever be etched in the memory of every Indian fan.
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