Top 5 Test innings by Indian batsmen in the last decade

As a new decade dawns upon us, it is but natural that we would cast a nostalgic glance at the one just gone by. For Indian cricket fans, this was a decade that had everything. From the elation of victories in the World Cup and Champions Trophy to the humiliation of whitewashes in tours of England and Australia.

It saw the blossoming of huge talents like Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli into modern greats while also witnessing the departure of legends such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. It was a decade that evoked every type of emotion a cricket fan can possibly experience.

As we look back fondly at the second decade of the 21st century, it would be a desirable exercise to list the 5 best innings played by Indian batsmen in those 10 years.

Rahul Dravid (103 vs England, Lord’s, 2011)

Rahul Dravid played a splendid knock at Lord's in 2011

Form is temporary, class is permanent. This innings from the great ‘Wall’ of India, Rahul Dravid, was the greatest proof of this statement. Coming into this series with questions about his form and future, Dravid played the sort of knock that the cricket world has come to associate with him.

In conditions that were helpful for bowlers, and men like Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad on the other side, India’s greatest no. 3 batter played with the quality that only his perfect technique can produce.

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For a period of his innings, he was batting with Sachin Tendulkar and the two legends played in the most sublime manner.

While Sachin was dismissed for 34, Dravid went on to complete another one of those majestic centuries that decorate his career. How good this innings was can be gauged from the fact that no other batsmen in the line-up even managed a half-century. It was a sublime knock that stood out majestically in an otherwise poor performance by the Indian team.

Virat Kohli (141 vs Australia, Adelaide, 2014)

Virat Kohli's hundred at Adelaide was an exceptional innings

This was Virat Kohli’s debut match as the Indian captain and he couldn’t have made a better start. The new skipper scored a hundred each in both innings of the Test but it was his knock in the second innings that deserves more accolades.

India were set a target of 364 to win, thanks largely to Australia’s desire for pushing to win the match. The pitch was assisting spin and Nathan Lyon bowled beautifully in the game, picking up 12 wickets in the Test.

Kohli, who had endured a miserable time in India’s previous series, in England, decided that his team is going to fight and go for a win. He batted superbly and with Murali Vijay, who was dismissed on 99, put on 185 runs for the third wicket.

At 242 for 2, India looked on course for a win but then Lyon went on a roll and knocked out the Indian middle order to take his team to a victory. Kohli though, kept fighting and was only dismissed when he mistimed a pull shot to be caught in the deep.

While Vijay scored 99 off 234 balls, Kohli’s innings of 141 came off just 175 deliveries, a testament to the high quality of his performance. It’s a shame that this innings had to end up on the losing side but it was certainly an innings worth savouring.

Ajinkya Rahane (103 vs England, Lord’s, 2014)

Ajinkya Rahane scored a brilliant hundred on an absolute green-top at Lord's

After the first match of this series was played on a pitch deemed too flat and boring, England demanded a green-top for the second Test. That’s what they got at the iconic Lord’s. In the entire decade, India probably never played on a pitch this grassy.

When England won the toss and put India in to bat, the visitors were in a tough spot. With Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in the England line-up, batting was going to be a very tough task for the Indian line-up.

Though the English new ball bowlers bowled badly and didn’t utilise the conditions well enough, they still caused enough problems to reduce India to 145/7. But Ajinkya Rahane stood like a wall and batted with great skill and mastery.

By keeping Anderson and Broad and their supporting bowlers at bay, Rahane took India to a very respectable score of 295 and scored a brilliant century himself. He was dismissed only when Anderson took a great reflex catch, otherwise, the Mumbai batsman may have gone on to score even more.

This innings proved to be the difference and won the match for India. Considering the conditions, the bowling attack and the lack of support – the next highest score in the Indian innings was 36 – this innings ranks among the finest.

Virat Kohli (123 vs Australia, Perth, 2018)

The century at Perth is the finest of Virat Kohli's career

Mention Perth and a shiver runs down the spine of Indian fans and several batsmen also. Yes, India did register a famous win against Australia there in 2008 but the city remains a great citadel for the Australian team and one very hard to conquer for other sides.

It was at the WACA stadium that Sachin Tendulkar proved his greatness by scoring a stunning century at the age of 18 in 1992 and it was here in 2018 that Virat Kohli scored the best hundred of his career.

This match was played not in the famous WACA ground but in the new stadium of the city. However, the pitch at the new venue also possesses the pace and bounce that made the original venue so friendly to fast bowlers.

Against a very potent attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Kohli showed what a grand player he has become by overcoming all the odds and scoring a majestic hundred. The next highest score in the innings was 51 and the one after that 36.

The Australians couldn’t ruffle Kohli and he was too good to have any problems dealing with the pace and bounce of the wicket. Another majestic innings from the great batsman.

Sachin Tendulkar (146 vs South Africa, Cape Town, 2011)

Sachin Tendulkar's century at Cape Town was a batting masterclass

How can you have such a list without the greatest of them all Sachin Tendulkar featured in it. There is a very simple reason why this knock is the best among all. It was played against the best bowler of the generation bowling one of the best spells of his life – Dale Steyn.

Steyn’s spell with the second new ball was a sight to behold. He swung the ball like a banana at high speeds and left the Indian batsmen bamboozled. He got the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and MS Dhoni in quick succession and would have also dismissed Harbhajan Singh if the bails had not miraculously stayed put despite the delivery brushing the off-stump.

But Sachin, in the prime of his form, negotiated this supreme example of fast bowling with the skill and ability that only he and no one else possessed. He didn’t just see off that spell but kept batting for a while after that.

While Steyn was the main threat, there was also Morne Morkel in the South African attack. The Little Master eventually got out in the 114th over – the new ball was taken in the 81st over – and got India to near 350.

This was an innings that one has to watch to understand how good it was. It also featured the unforgettable duel of the best fast bowler in the world and the best batsman – both at the peak of their powers. It was Test cricket at its best.