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India has produced surprise wins in a number of different sports over the years. Such ‘miracle’ victories, coming when the odds are heavily stacked against the individual or team, have their own unique place in history for the sheer joy they give to the country’s fans.Athletes like Prakash Padukone, Leander Paes and Saina Nehwal pulled off unexpected victories to become an inspiration for others. Such moments not only bring pride to Indians but also sometimes mark the starting point for a sport to achieve bigger things.The surprise triumph for Kapil Dev’s men in 1983 World Cup was one of the biggest reasons for cricket becoming the most followed sport in the country.In this slideshow, we look at eight such magical moments that created big turning points in the sporting history of India.
#8 India winning the NatWest Trophy (2002)
Like winning the 1983 Prudential World Cup, winning unexpectedly the NatWest Series in Lords in 2002 was a positive turn around to Indian Cricket.
Chasing a score of more than 300 in an alien condition is a daunting task for any team especially under alien swinging conditions. As confided by Saurav Ganguly later, it was the self confidence of the players that paved the way for this achievement.
Centuries by Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain had created a great platform for the English Cricket team.
But India had the power and quality batsmen to upset a score of that magnitude. A middle order collapse had India reeling at 146 for 5.
But it was left to two young batsmen in their early twenties to steady the ship and take it safely to the shores. A 63 ball 69 and a 75 ball 87 by Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif and a last minute surge by Zaheer Khan made India romp home by 2 wickets with 3 balls to spare.
#7 Indian Mens Basketball Team defeating China (2014)
While many of us have only a little idea about basketball scenario in the country, the Indian Men’s basketball team created history by beating China 65-58 at the group stage in the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in 2014. It was their first ever win over one of the top teams in the continent.
China obviously were the overwhelming favourites especially after their superb win against Iran.
Though China started brightly scoring the opening points, India started to dominate after that. During the break, India went into lead against their powerful opponents. At one point they even had a 15 point lead.
Pratham Singh and Amjyot Singh scored 13 points each. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, the fulcrum of the team scored 10 points.
#6 P V Sindhu upsetting Li Xuerui (2012)
The first ever Indian woman to win a medal in singles at the World Championships, P.V.Sindhu’s became famous instantly when she upset London Olympics gold medalist Li Xuerui in the Quarter final of the 2012 edition of the Li Ning Chine Masters Super Series.
Ranked World Number 24 at that time, Sindhu won the tightly contested match 21-19, 9-21, 21-16. Before that match she had defeated world number 14 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand.
Commenting the win as ‘big one’, Gopi Chand the National Coach said, "She was good in the court and she moved well. She played an attacking game and retrieved quite a lot of shuttles at the net."
By far, this is Sindhu’s biggest career win in which she played an aggressive game hitting 26 smash winners as opposed to 20 by her more illustrious opponent Xuerui.
#5 Abhinav Bindras Gold at the Beijing Olympics (2008)
By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games.
He is also the first and the only Indian to hold both the Olympic Gold Medal held at Beijing and the World title at Zagreb, Croatia the same time. The defending Olympic Champion at that time, China’s Zhu Qinan, was under severe pressure and had to keep up time limit.
As he was severely agitated he couldn’t concentrate. Added to this Bindra’s last shot was the best shot that fetched him 10.8 and the title.
#4 Pullela Gopichand winning All England Championship (2001)
Pullela Gopichand, the only Indian to win the Arjuna Award (1999) and the Dronacharya Award (2009), coveted the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001. Interested in cricket during his earlier days, he was turned towards badminton by his elder brother.
The 2001 championship was a hallmark in the career of Gopichand because in the semis he defeated World Number 1 Peter Gade Christensen and the Olympic Champion Ji Xenpeng in the prequarters.
In the finals, he was pitted against the 12th seeded Chinese Chen Hong in very easily 15-12, 15-6. Though sluggish at the start of the finals, Gopichand showed his mastery as the game progressed. He compensated the lack of high leaping blinding smashes with excellent net play.
The second game was more of one-sided as Gopichand produced brilliant shots close to the net. At one point he scored 5 continuous points to take an unassailable lead.
During the whole tournament he didn’t lose even a single game winning each match hands down.
#3 Leander Paes\' victory over Pete Sampras (1998)
How often have you heard of Pete Sampras getting defeated in straight sets against a guy who was relatively ranked much lower than him? Well, the unexpected win came at the Pilot Pen International Tennis Championships in 1998.
And the player who defeated Sampras was none other than our very own Leander Paes. Coming to know of such victories can also mean a bit of disappointment for Indians because with the promise he showed, the 15 time grand slam winning champion achieved only very little as a singles player.
Paes looked threatening all throughout the match and the then world number two Sampras was constantly troubled by the Indians pace and placements. With not much problems, Paes won it convincingly 6-3, 6-4.
Nonetheless, the win over Sampras is probably is the biggest upset pulled off by an Indian in tennis.
#2 Indian football teams surprise run in the Melbourne Olympics (1956)
At a time when the preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup is underway, India has improved 26 places to be at No.147 in World Football. At this juncture it is pertinent to look back at the golden period India were in.
It is hard to believe that India had entered the semi-finals of 1956 Melbourne Olympics defeating Australia 4-2. It is also hard to believe that Indias Neville DSouza was the only Asian footballer to have scored a hat-trick in an Olympics.
Well, India was the first Asian nation to reach the semi-finals in an Olympics. In the match which was played on December 1, DSouza played in such a delicate fashion that the host nation was crushed without difficulty. Unable to bear an ignominious defeat, Australia had called this Indian victory as fluke and wanted to play the match again.
Such was Indias dominance during that time.
#1 1983 World Cup win
Probably the main reason why cricket has become the most popular sport in the country.
India started the world cup campaign as underdogs. Much focus was on the mighty West Indies and also on Australia and England as potential threats to the Windies.
But destiny had other ideas. India, reached the finals owing to some brilliant performances.
Prior to the finals, India and West Indies met twice in the tournament with each of them winning one apiece.
The final itself had its set of dramas. In a relatively low scoring match, Krishnamachari Srikkanth top scored with 38 runs. Some inspired bowling from India and Kapil Devs famous catch running backwards to dismiss Vivian Richards meant that India won the match by 43 runs.
The Prudential World Cup victory on certainly took Indian cricket to another level.
