4 times when India came from behind to win a Test series

A five-day cricket match is called a Test for it literally defines the term. It is the true test of a player's fitness, talent, perseverance, and of a team's ability to dominate consistently or come back strongly after faltering once.

Therefore, winning a Test match brings utmost joy and satisfaction to a player, one that no other form of cricket, as lucrative as it may be, can make one experience. Winning a Test series in overseas conditions is a steeper challenge, as it tests one's adaptability and character to the fullest.

And if this was not all, winning a Test series after having conceded the lead is the toughest challenge a captain and his team can ever face. However, the fascinating game that cricket is, it has produced 40 such fairytale comebacks when a team has come back from behind to script magic and win the Test series. One of the shining examples of one them is the 2005 Ashes, which England went on to win 2-1 after being 0-1 down.

India has shown the grit and character required to rise from defeats to go on to win series on four occasions in the past.

As Virat Kohli and his men, trailing England, look ahead at the remainder of the ongoing series against England with a couple of matches to go, let us have a look at these four Indian comebacks for the present lot to derive inspiration from.

What makes the scenario even more interesting is that two of those four instances have occurred under the aegis of the present Indian skipper and the man who can do no wrong- Virat Kohli. Kohli, thus, surely knows how to turn the tables and rise above all.

#1 India v England (1972-73)

The famous Indian spin quartet: BS Chandrashekhar, BS Bedi, E Prasanna and S Venkatraghvan

England arrived in India in 1972 to play a five-Test series under the leadership of Tony Lewis. The first match at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi was dominated by the visiting side as they bundled out India for 173 courtesy a fiery spell of 6/45 from Geoff Arnold. After gaining a slender 27 run first innings lead, they restricted the Indians to modest 233 in the second innings.

Set 207 for a win, the Englishmen sailed past the target to win by 6 wickets and lead the series 1-0. In the next match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India was once again reduced to only 201 in their first innings. However, this time around, the home team managed to gain a 36 run lead as their spinners, BS Chandrashekhar (5/65), Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna shared all ten wickets among them.

Having set a target of 192 for England to win the Test, the spinners once again came to the party as this time Bedi picked up a fifer and Chandrashekhar picked 4/42, winning India the low scoring match by 28 runs.

With the series level 1-1, the two teams moved to Chepauk in Chennai for the third match. England, batting first, managed 242, once again getting caught in the guile of Chandra (6/90), Bedi (2/66) and Prasanna (2/47). India, on the other hand, amassed 316 on the back of Tiger Pataudi's 73. In their second sojourn, England got scuttled out for 159, with Bedi and Prasanna picking up 4 wicket hauls.

Left to chase down 86 in the final innings, India stumbled their way through to win the match by 4 wickets. With the next two matches at Green Park (Kanpur) and Brabourne Stadium (Mumbai) ending in high scoring draws, Ajit Wadekar and his team became the first Indian team to win a series coming from behind.

#2 India v Australia (2001)

Laxman and Dravid walking back after batting for an entire day in the Kolkata Test

Perhaps one of the most significant Test series that India has ever been a part of and surely the biggest inflection point as far as Indian cricket is concerned, the Border Gavaskar Trophy of 2000-01 will always remain etched in golden pages in Indian cricket history.

Steve Waugh, who's Australian team had conquered the world, termed the tour as the 'Final Frontier'. In the series opener at the Wankhede Stadium, Waugh's men played like a champion team, routing the helpless Indians by 10 wickets in under three days, thereby extending their record victorious run in Tests to 16.

The next match at Kolkata started on similar lines and after the two teams ended their respective first innings, Australia, who scored 445 and led India's 171 by 274 runs, looked all set to steamroll the Indians once again after making them following on.

Two men, though, did not just stop them from doing so, but also scripted what would be the most epic tale in Indian cricket folklore. VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) battled the quality Aussie bowling attack in addition to the sultry conditions and body cramps as they just batted and batted and batted.

The 376 run stand that lasted for 104.1 overs, enabled India to set the Aussies a mammoth 384 run target, giving themselves two sessions to force a victory. Harbhajan Singh who had picked up a hat-trick in the first innings, accounted for 6 more Australian batsmen to make it 13 for the match as the visitors got bundled out for 212, handing the match to India by 171 runs.

Harbhajan Singh picked 32 wickets in the series; Ganguly gave the team a new outlook

In the series decider in Chennai, Australia rode on the back of a scintillating double century from Matthew Hayden to post 391, the Turbanator once again wrecking havoc with 7 scalps. A collective batting effort led by 126 from Sachin Tendulkar helped India to 501. Harbhajan, like a child in a toy shop, went on to pick up 8 in Australia's second innings, taking his series tally to 32.

It was, therefore, quite fitting that the off-spinner and eventual Man of the Series hit the winning runs as India lost eight wickets in their attempt to chase 155. That India could win and win from any situation, and that the new millennium would witness Sourav Ganguly turning the Indians from mere pushovers to a force to reckon with, was made known to one and all.

#3 Sri Lanka v India (2015)

The victorious Indian team in Sri Lanka

Virat Kohli's first full assignment as captain of the Indian team saw them embarking on the Emerald Islands in 2015. India began convincingly as R Ashwin's 6/46 helped them restrict Sri Lanka to 183 in the series opener at Galle.

Centuries from Shikhar Dhawan (134) and captain Kohli (103) helped India attain a 192 run lead, putting them in the driver' seat. At 95-5, India had the home team on the mat, staring towards defeat when Dinesh Chandimal played the innings of a lifetime. An unbeaten innings of 162 at a strike rate of 96 meant that India, who must have not even thought of batting second, had to chase 176 for victory.

Rangana Herath (7/48), who went wicketless in the first innings, ran through the Indian batting order as India were scuttled out for 112 in less than 50 overs, conceding an unlikely defeat.

In the second Test at the Premadasa, Colombo, Sri Lanka posted 306 in reply to India's 393, Angelo Mathews and Lokesh Rahul respectively scoring centuries for their teams. Ajinkya Rahane's second innings century helped India set the Lankans a daunting 413 runs to achieve victory. Ashwin, who picked 5/42, gave the home team a taste of their own medicine as India managed to level the series.

The final match at SSC, Colombo, pretty much like the pious one saw India gaining huge first innings lead (111 runs) and then going on to set an unachievable target (386 runs) in the last innings. Just that, this time Cheteshwar Pujara (145) raised his hand in the batting order and Ishant Sharma (5/54 and 3/32) gave good company to Ashwin (0/33 and 4/69).

Thus the series was a huge learning curve for the new captain and his new team, each of whom have grown up in the T20 era, teaching them valuable lessons about the grind of Test cricket.

#4 India v Australia (2017)

The duo of Ashwin and Jadeja crafted an Indian victory

Australia visited India in 2017 for the Border Gavaskar Trophy with an intent to overturn their dismal sub-continent record and in search for a Test match victory on Indian soil that had deserted them for 11 matches across 13 years.

They were welcomed by a rank turner in Pune, which spun from day one. And so, it was meant to suit the Indian spinners. However, India dug a grave for themselves, or at least so it seemed when left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe ended with match figures of 12/69, the best for a visiting spinner on Indian soil.

The other Steve who punctured India's hopes big time was captain Smith, whose knock of 109 in testing conditions was a testament to his growing batting stature. Losing the match by a colossal 333 runs, the Indians were humiliated.

Bengaluru, the host to the second match, saw India's batting woes to continue as Nathan Lyon (8/50) tormented them. A first innings lead of 87 meant that Australia was in pole position. Half-centuries from KL Rahul, Pujara and Rahane helped India set 188 for an Australian victory. Ashwin's 6/42 scuttled out the Aussies for 112, bringing the series at level.

India completed a successful routing of the Aussies and justified their Number 1 ranking

The third match at Ranchi was another example of Steve Smith's (178*) class in batsmanship, to go along with Glenn Maxwell's 104 to reach 451. In reply, Pujara's double hundred and Wriddhiman Saha's 117 helped India to 603. The match ended up being a draw, leaving the final match in Dharamshala to decide the fate of the series.

Ajinkya Rahane replaced Kohli, who picked up an injury in the Ranchi Test, at the helm. Riding on yet another century from their skipper, Australia managed 300 in the first innings. India, who gained a 32 run first innings lead, bundled out the Aussies for 137 in the second innings and then comfortably chased down 106 runs to win the series 2-1 and make it their fourth such win when they came from behind.