R Ashwin picks his '5 Best Moments' from Indian cricket history

India is heading towards the historic 500th Test match on Wednesday as they take on New Zealand at Kanpur in the first of the three-match series. Over the last 84 years, Indian have featured in some epic encounters.

Indian offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked his five best memorable moments in the Indian cricket history from the 499 Test matches. “There have been a lot of memories as far as Indian cricket goes. I had to pick the top 5,” said the 30-year-old all-rounder.

1. Anil Kumble’s 10-wicket-haul

One of the iconic moment in international cricket as the legendary Indian off-spinner, Anil Kumble broke the record books as he bagged 10 wickets in an innings against the arch-rivals Pakistan at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium.

India went onto the match after suffering a narrow 12-run defeat by Pakistan in Chennai. Early in the fourth day, India were all out for 339 runs in their second innings, which sets a target of 420 runs for Pakistan.

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Despite the Pakistan openers starting off well with a century opening stand, Kumble was unleashed in the post-lunch session to bagg all the 10 wickets and square the two-match series 1-1.

“My number 1 being Anil Kumble’s 10-wicket-haul against Pakistan at Feroze Shah Kotla. Its not a feat that happens very often and in that Test match we were lagging behind by 1-0. I watched the first Test at Chennai and see the comeback at Delhi was fabulous and 10-wicket-haul to top it up,” said Ashwin.

2. India’s historic series win against Australia in 2001

In 2001, Australia came to India on the back of 16 successive Test victories and beat India in Mumbai in the first match. They were well on their way towards victory in the second match after following-on India, but VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) played two of the best knocks in cricket history to secure a lead.

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Harbhajan Singh’s 13 wickets in the match, which includes a hat-trick sealed a dramatic Indian victory in the dying moments of the match, which is the second best moment selected by Ashwin.

“My second best memory would be 2001 Australia series where India beat them coming back at Kolkata, where (VVS) Laxman and (Rahul) Dravid completely ressurected the Indian fightback.”

3. Rahul Dravid-led India’s win over England in 2007

India led by Rahul Dravid toured England for a 3-match Test series, which India won the tightly fought series 1-0. After the first match ending in a draw, India started off well in the second match bowling out the home side for 198 runs, whereas India scored 481.

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England played better in the second innings as they scored 355 runs, but a target of 73 was not good enough to challenge the strong Indian batting line-up.

“No. 3 for me would be the series win in England where Rahul Dravid was the captain of the Indian side. That was one heck off a series, it was a very tightly fought series but Indians batted and bowled really well in the series to win it,” said Ashwin.

4. Whitewash over South Africa in 2015

India outplayed the proteas in all three departments of the game as India whitewashed South Africa 3-0 in the four match series where the second match was suspended due to bad weather.

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India played against South Africa five times in the last decade (both home and away) but never managed to win a series, and that’s why this victory will be a lot sweeter. Ashwin played a vital part in the series win and this is his 4th pick in the five best moments.

“The fourth moment as far as I am concerned would be the 3-0 win against South Africa that we had recently. We concluded the series it has be one of my best moments too.”

5. First Test series win over Sri Lanka after 22 years

After 22 years, India have won a Test series (2-1) against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka as their only previous series win against them in Sri Lanka was by 1-0 in 1993.

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After first Test, the Virat Kohli-led Indian side were down by 1-0, but came back strongly to win the next two to seal the series. “No. 5 would be the series win against Sri Lanka that we achieved last year,” concluded the world ranking no.1 all-rounder in Test cricket.