Australia’s veteran spinner and cricket expert — Shane Warner has reminisced about 2001 Eden Gardens Test when India were put on follow on before staging an epic comeback mainly due to VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. Shane Warne, former Australian leg spinner recalled the thriller test between India and Australia. Indian batsmen VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid stitched an exceptional 376 run partnership for the fifth wicket as India declared at 657/7 giving Australia a stiff target of 384 to win.
Australia who were on the brink of most consecutive Test match wins with 16 Test wins on the trot scored a mammoth 445 in the first innings riding Steve Waugh’s 110 and Matthew Hayden’s 97. Harbhajan Singh was the first Indian to take Test hat-trick in Australia’s first innings.
In reply, India were bundled out for a paltry 171 as Australia enforced to follow on, but the team bounced back with VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid batting through the fourth day. Finally, they were dismissed on 281 and 180 respectively.
2001 Eden Gardens Test Recalled By Shane Warne As They Were Hammered By India
Australian pacers bowled 178 overs and tried 9 bowlers in vain as Glenn McGrath bowled 39 overs, Jason Gillespie bowled 31 overs, Shane Warne himself bowled 34 overs and Michael Kasprowicz bowled 35 overs. Shane Warne finished with figures of 1/152, while the pacers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie picked up 3 and 2 wickets respectively conceding as many as 103 and 115 runs respectively.
“I remember standing in slips in between bowling about 4000 overs and getting hammered around the ground. I discussed my favourite movies with Adam Gilchrist, we swapped hats, and tried everything to try and not think about it. My favourite songs… I think we were delirious,” Warne said on air during the third Test between England and Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl.
“But they played beautifully, Laxman and Dravid. In my time, it was as good an innings as there was. Laxman’s innings was beautiful, Dravid was exceptional too. Sometimes you just have to say ‘too good’,” Warne added.
The duo came together when the score was 232/4 as VVS Laxman played a gem of an innings which was also his career-best as they batted throughout the fourth day and finally VVS Laxman was dismissed after playing 104 overs together while Rahul Dravid was run out on 180.
2001 Eden Gardens Test: India’s Positives
The test was one of the greatest as India came back from the brink of defeat and scripted an epic win. The win was only the third instance of a team winning despite following on. Before India, England have done it twice while Australia were on the receiving end in all three occasions. The previous instances were at Sydney at 1894 and Headingley in 1981. However, the margin of victory were less than 20 runs on both occasions.
2001 Eden Gardens Test saw spinner Harbhajan Singh take India’s first test hat-trick in Australia’s first innings when Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist were out lbw and Shane Warne was caught at the short leg of three successive deliveries. Still, Australia went on to score 445 after Steve Waugh lifted them from 269/8.
2001 Eden Gardens Test is considered by many to be the best comeback in Test history as India got three positives from the test VVS Laxman’s epic 281, Rahul Dravid’s 180 and Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick. VVS Laxman created a new Indian record for the highest individual innings at that time. Harbhajan Singh captured 6 for 73 and had match figures of 13 for 196 which is exceptional due to Anil Kumble’s absence.
The test vindicated Sourav Ganguly’s position as skipper since he later became one of India’s most successful Test captains with 21 wins from 49 matches. The record was broken later by MS Dhoni who won 27 matches from 60 tests and the current skipper Virat Kohli who has 33 wins so far to his name.
One of the positives from the Test series was the emergence of spinner Harbhajan Singh who was also the Man of the Series for picking up 32 wickets at an enviable average of 17.03. His performance with the ball was more creditable as he was under pressure due to unavailability of veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble for the series.
Sourav Ganguly, the current BCCI president and the captain of the series also gained fame and support of the seniors and youngsters alike. Australia who were looking for a record 17th win were further dealt with a blow when they lost the next test at Chennai too by 2 wickets as India won the Border Gavaskar Trophy by 2-1.