THE FIGHTBACK

                       

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.

Venue- Trent Bridge, Nottingham [August 8-12, 2002].

In the summer of 2002, the Indian cricket team toured England to play a triangular ODI series with England and Sri Lanka. After this, they played a 4-match test series against the hosts, England. Hence, it was a big tour that started in the month of June and ended in the second week of September. Indians, however, were successful in winning the triangular series in the most dramatic of manners. Nonetheless, the English made a strong comeback in the test series as they hammered us with a margin of 170 runs in the first test.

The action for the second test shifted to Trent Bridge, wherein we were on a back foot because of what happened to us in London. In a do-or-die game, Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first. Riding on Sehwag's gritty 108, we ended up scoring 357 in our first innings. Apart from Sehwag, Captain Ganguly (68) and Harbhajan Singh (54) made valuable contributions with the bat as English bowlers chipped wickets at regular intervals. 

In response, the English posted a massive 617 in their first innings. The same was possible because of the heroics of Michael Vaughan, who missed a well-deserved double century. Vaughan scored a magnificent 197 of 258 deliveries. Furthermore, every English batsman contributed with the bat as the visitors struggled to take wickets. 

It was now almost certain that we cannot win this test. The question that arose now was, can we save this match? Unfortunately, we lost both our openers cheaply as the Indians were reduced to 11/2. The match was on a knife-edge when Sachin Tendulkar joined Rahul Dravid in between. The duo stitched a partnership of 163 runs and brought the visitors back into the game. This was then followed by another 135-run stand between Dravid and Ganguly as we took a crucial lead in the second innings. Amidst such a pressure situation, Rahul Dravid scored a well-composed 115 as we saved the test match. Apart from Dravid, Tendulkar (92) and Ganguly (99) too contributed in this pressure situation. It was quite unlucky on their part that they missed their centuries. However, the fightback of Team India won everyone's heart. The Indians eventually declared a score of 424/8 as the match ended in a draw. 

To watch the knock of Sehwag, Click Here.

To watch the knock of Rahul Dravid, Click Here.

To watch the knock of Sachin Tendulkar, Click Here.