India is a country which has always been renowned for producing world class batsmen in cricket. The nation has produced some of the sport’s greatest ever batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, etc. Many of these great batsmen have stepped up on big occasions and delivered for India.
However, when the going got even tougher and India did not have wickets in hand, tail-enders have stepped up and rescued India quite a number of times. Many a time, such innings have been played by India’s spin department. So let’s take a look at the top five batting innings by Indian spinners.
#5 Anil Kumble, 58 vs England at Nagpur, 2006
Anil Kumble is considered to be one of the greatest spinners in the history of the game but he was also a pretty handy batsman down the order and has rescued India on a couple of occasions through his batting. One such innings came against England in 2006 at Nagpur. Electing to bat first, England scored 393 in their first innings thanks to Paul Collingwood’s unbeaten 134 and Alastair Cook’s 60 in addition to some useful chippings from Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison.
In reply, India were off to a good start with Wasim Jaffer and skipper Rahul Dravid adding 129 for the second wicket. However, the moment their partnership was broken, India began to lose wickets in quick succession and from 140/1, were reeling at 190/7.
On the crease were Mohammad Kaif and Anil Kumble. Both Kaif and Kumble batted calmly and added 128 runs for the tenth wicket. Kumble recorded his fourth Test half-century and scored a calm innings of 58 from 168 deliveries which included ten boundaries. Kumble’s partnership with Kaif helped India to minimize England’s first innings lead and later proved out to be a crucial one as India drew the Test match.
#4 Srinivas Venkataraghavan, 64 vs New Zealand at Chennai, 1976
Former Indian captain Srinivas Venkataraghavan is considered to be one of the best spinners India has ever produced and in his prime was regarded as one of the world’s best spinners. He helped India win several matches through his crafty off-break bowling. On a few occasions, he also chipped in with the bat and one such opportunity came in 1976 when New Zealand were touring India. After winning the first Test and drawing the second, India were set to win the series.
In the third Test match India won the toss and elected to bat first. They were off to the worst of starts when both openers Sunil Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad got out with only three runs on the board. Gundappa Viswanath played a crucial knock of 87 and tried to stabilize the Indian batting with assistance from Mohinder Amarnath and Brijesh Patel.
Once he got out, India began to stumble and were 181/7 when Venkataraghavan came to bat with Syed Kirmani on the crease. Venkataraghavan played a very essential and sensible innings of 64 and along with Kirmani added 81 runs for the tenth wicket. Venkat’s innings comprised four boundaries and a six and helped India reach a total of 298 in the first innings.
Some crafty bowling by captain Bishan Singh Bedi and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar helped India win the match by 216 runs and the series 2-0.
#3 Anil Kumble, 88 vs South Africa at Kolkata, 1996
This is Anil Kumble’s second innings in this list and this one came against South Africa in 1996 when the Proteas were touring India. South Africa elected to bat first and posted a total of 428 in their first innings thanks to centuries from openers Gary Kirsten and Andrew Hudson.
In reply, India got off to a good start with openers Nayan Mongia and Rahul Dravid adding 68 for the first wicket but their dismissal triggered a batting collapse and soon India were struggling at 161/7 and a follow-on was imminent.
Anil Kumble and Mohammad Azharuddin then took on the South African bowling and were flamboyantly hitting them for one boundary after another. Kumble, who wasn’t renowned for his batting hit a total of 13 boundaries and scored 88 off 124 deliveries at a strike rate of 70.96.
He formed a 161-run partnership with Azharuddin who then scored the fourth-fastest Test century off 74 balls and helped India to avoid the follow-on. Kumble’s innings of 88 was a career best for him at that time which was later beaten by another knock which we’ll come across in this list.
#2 Anil Kumble, 110 vs England at London, 2007
And another Kumble innings makes an appearance in this list; only that this one wasn’t scored when India were in trouble but spin specialists getting centuries is something you don’t see every day. It was the third and final Test of the Pataudi Trophy at the Kensington Oval and electing to bat first, India were doing great, with Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman all scoring half-centuries.
At the fall of the sixth wicket, captain Anil Kumble came into bat with the scoreboard reading 417/6 and was determined to keep the scoreboard. He kept his cool and kept on hitting the England bowlers for one boundary after another and reached his maiden Test hundred in one of the most unorthodox ways possible by only managing to get the slightest of inside edges.
His innings of 110 propelled India to a score of 664 which still remains India’s highest Test score against England. Kumble also bowled well in that match, picking three wickets in the first innings and two in the second as India drew the match but won the series 1-0. Kumble’s 118 Test matches taken to reach a maiden Test hundred still remains a record.
#1 Harbhajan Singh, 115 vs New Zealand at Ahmedabad, 2010
In addition to being one of India’s best ever spinners, Harbhajan Singh was a more than useful lower order batsman as he often rescued India on a couple of occasions with the bat. However, the biggest of such occasions came in 2010 when New Zealand were touring India.
It was the very first Test at the Motera and India scored 487 in their innings thanks to tons from Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid and a crucial 69 from Harbhajan at the twilight of the innings. In reply, New Zealand made 459, riding on centuries from Jesse Ryder and debutant Kane Williamson.
However, in the second innings, the Indian batting was faltering as Chris Martin was tearing apart the batsmen with his sensational bowling and India found themselves wobbling at 65/6 with the possibility of a defeat imminent.
At this point, Harbhajan Singh came in and along with VVS Laxman survived the remainder of Day-4. On the next day, came one of the most important innings from an Indian tail-ender as Harbhajan played one beautiful shot after another and finally brought up his maiden Test century by hitting a gutsy inside-out six off Daniel Vettori. His innings of 115 rescued India from a defeat and won him the Man of the Match award; one of those rare occasions where Harbhajan won the award because of his batting.
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