Deepak Chahar was the star of the show with the bat, as he and Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India to clinch the ODI series against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The duo arrived when India was reeling at 193/7 and added 84 runs to guide India to a famous win. Here are the top 5 moments that show that comebacks is a tradition in this team:
India Vs South Africa, Champions Trophy 2002 Semi-Final: India won by 10 runs
India opted to bat in this match. With Sehwag making a quick 59, and in the latter half of the game a 72 run partnership between Dravid and Yuvraj gave India a fighting total of 261.
South Africa lost Graeme Smith early in the innings, but Gibbs and Kallis frustrated the Indian bowlers for too long, with Gibbs scoring a century. At 192/1, Gibbs got retired hurt, and from there, the match turned on its head, and India fought their way through by dismissing the rest of the team and won the game by 10 runs.
India Vs Australia, 7th ODI 2007: India won by 2 wickets
It was the last ODI of the series and Australia had already won the series. Murali Kartik rattled Australia to just 193 with career-best bowling figures of 6/27. The target suddenly became a big ask for India when they were reeling at 64/6. Uthappa made a fighting 47, but the heroes of that match were Zaheer Khan and Murali Kartik. The duo added 52 runs for the 9th wicket, which took India to yet another famous win against the Kangaroos.
India vs England, Champions Trophy Final 2013: India won by 5 runs
The match initially got delayed due to rain and was later to reduced to just 20 overs, England invited India to bat first. India started pretty well until Ravi Bopara arrived and India, from 50-1 went to 66-5. Later on, Jadeja and Kohli’s partnership gave India total worth fighting for.
England’s start was pretty shaky, but Morgan and Bopara steadied the ship and England just needed 20 runs to win from 16 balls. MS Dhoni gave the ball to Ishant Sharma and suddenly in the next two balls, he got both Morgan and Bopara and from there, India won the match and the Champions Trophy.
India vs Sri Lanka, Tri-Series Final 2013: India won by 1 wicket
Sri Lanka came on to bat with an intent, and were cruising on at 171-2. In came, Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and dismissed the Lankans for 201 and gave India a comparatively easy target to chase.
Rangana Herath, on the other hand, had some other plans and dismantled India. When a pressure situation arises, there’s only one man who had mastered it, MS Dhoni came to the rescue again, and scored 16 runs in the final over to win the final for India.
India vs England, 1st ODI 2017: India won by 3 wickets
In one of the highest run chases in ODI cricket, England’s big guns started blazing with Roy, Root, and Stokes scoring fifties, and quick-fire innings from Moeen Ali guided England to a mammoth total of 350.
India, on the other hand, started the game in a humiliating manner, and was reeling on 63/4 and all hopes were lost. Enter the chase master Virat Kohli, who along with Kedar Jadhav, contributed 200 runs, with both scoring high-pressure centuries. Hardik Pandya finished the game with an important 40 and gave Indian fans one of the greatest comebacks in ODI cricket.
