10 greatest achievements of Indian Cricket

Winning Cricket World Cup in 1983

This is Indian cricket team’s biggest achievement to date. On June 25, 1983, India defeated West Indies, the then champion, in the finals by 43 runs. The moment the Indian captain Kapil Dev lifted the Cup at the infamous Lords balcony, in England, beating the Mighty West Indies, the world got its 2nd ODI Cricket champion. The Man of the Match in the tournament’s Final & Semi-Final was awarded to Mohinder Amarnath, who’s all-round ability helped India become the World Champion.

INDIA won the ICC World T20 in 2007

On September 24, 2007, India won the inaugural ICC World T20 Championship by beating Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling final in Johannesburg, South Africa. Captain M.S. Dhoni is the only Indian Captain to lift the ICC World T20 Championship trophy as of now. In the tournament the players like Irfan Pathan and RP Singh rose to the occassion with their brilliant bowling and the batsmen showcased their prowess throughout. In the finals, the SouthPaw Indian Opener Gautam Gambhir’s outstanding knock (75 runs of 54 balls) helped India put a defendable total and then the bowlers did the rest to win the final. One of the Talking point of the tournament was Yuvraj Singh’s charismatic hitting when he hit 6 sixes in an over of Stuart Board and scored 50 in just 12 balls.

INDIA achieved Number-One in ICC Test ranking in 2009

On 6 December 2009, India became the only third team to climb to the top of the ladder after Australia and South Africa, since the first Test Rankings was launched in May 2001. India’s rise to No.1 in the ICC Test rankings is largely due to its improved overseas success, which started under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy and continued under Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, & M.S.Dhoni. This popularity was established primarily by the Indian Cricket’s Fabulous 5 (Tendulkar, Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid & Laxman). Shewag, Harbhajan, Zaheer Khan, the Young Stars Dhoni & Gambhir also regularly contributed to achieve the No. 1 spot in the Test Ranking.

INDIA won the 2011 Cricket World Cup

India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at the Wankhede, Mumbai. Ms Dhoni the Mr. Cool had demonstrated his ability on the biggest of occasions, with his match-winning 91* in the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2011,which helped India chase a humongous target to lift the title. CWC Greatest Moments is when Dhoni finished it off in some style, and ending the drought of World Cup, by lifting the trophy. Yuvraj Singh was the Star performer of the tournament and the tournament served as a perfect token of gift for all the legends that retired just before or after 2011, who worked hard to make India a team that it is today, Salute-to-the-Legends.

INDIA wins Asia Cup 5 times

After 15 long years, on 24th June 2010, India repeats the history after clinching the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka by 81 runs in the final at Dambulla, Sri Lanka. It was the 5th occasion that India won the Asia Cup title since the inauguration of tournament way back in 1984. India reached the Asia Cup final 8 times out of 10 times and won 5 times (1984, 1988, 1990-91, 1995 & 2010).

INDIA won the Hero Cup in 1993

On 27 November 1993, India won the Cricket Association of the Bengal Tournament (5-Nation Hero Cup) in 1993, beating West Indies by 102 finals in the Eden Gardens, Calcutta (now Kolkata). Captain Md.Azharuddin was the Tournament’s Man of the Series. In the Finals Anil Kumble produced a Match winning excellent bowling figure scalping a 6 fer (6.1-2-12-6).

INDIA won the 1985 Benson & Hedges Cup

On March 10, 1985, India defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets in the MCG, Australia and won the Benson & Hedges World Cricket Final. India dominated and remained undefeated in the tournament. The tournament’s highlights are Man of the Series Ravi Shastri’s all-round performance (182 runs & 8 wickets in 5 matches), and the Man of the Final K. Srikkanth (283 runs in 5 matches), L. Sivaramakrishnan’s 10 wickets, 9 wickets each in the tournament for Kapil Dev & Madan Lal.

INDIA won the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2001

22 March 2001, India won the Border Gavaskar Trophy (IND v AUS 3 Matches Test Series). In the 2nd Test at Eden Gardens when Australia forced India to follow-on, but resurgent India retaliated strongly first with the run-voyage 376 runs partnership between Laxman(281 runs) & Dravid(180 runs) and then the never ending Harbhajan Singh’s wicket party, including a Hat trick, sunk the Invincible Aussies. Since then, India had dominated the series and won the Series 2-1. Harbhajan Singh, the man of the Series took 32 wickets. The famous rivalry between the Australian captain Steve Waugh and the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly still remains as the fascinating tale of tales.

INDIA won the Coca-Cola Cup Sharjah

On April 24, 1998, in Sharjah, India won the Coca-Cola Cup (Ind-Aus-NZ) by beating Australia with 6 wickets in the final. Man of the Tournament & Man of the Match in the Final was Sachin Tendulkar whose back to back Centuries is remembered as the Desert Storm or Sharjah’s Sand Strom, which helped India win the finals.

INDIA won the NatWest Trophy 2002

On July 13, 2002, India won the NatWest trophy by a thrilling 2-wicket victory at the Lords vs England. Yuvraj Singh(69 runs) and the Man of the Final Mohammad Kaif(87* runs) took the initiative back to India after a sudden collapse seemed to ruin their dreams while chasing a mountainous 326 runs. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly celebrated the winning moment by taking off his shirt and flying it over the iconic balcony of the Lords as he took revenge on English all-rounder Andrew Flintof, is still a sight to witness.

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