#2 Hemang Badani vs. Australia (2001)
The historic ground of Eden Gardens (Kolkata) witnessed a historic Test match between India and Australia in the early summers of 2001. After having scored 445 runs in the first innings, the Australians restricted Sourav Ganguly’s men to a paltry 171 and enforced them to follow-on.
The Indian second innings witnessed a couple of tremendous batting performances (VVS Laxman’s 281 and Rahul Dravid’s 180) and a record 376 runs’ partnership for the fifth wicket.
With a target of 384 runs to chase down on the final day of the Test match, the Australians were in no mood to settle the fixture for a stalemate. Propelled by the likes of Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater, Justin Langer and Steve Waugh, the Australians were at 166 for 3 at one stage. It was quite clear that Steve Waugh’s boys were in a really strong position to deny the Indians of a fairytale result.
It was then that Hemang Badani (who was on the field in place of an injured Nayan Mongia) took a superb catch at short leg to get rid of the Aussie skipper. And soon unexpectedly, the collapse started. The likes of Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne could add just six runs on the board as India went on to bundle Australia for a total of 212 and win the Test match by 171 runs.
It was the first Test that the Australians had lost after winning 16 consecutive matches under the able captaincy of Steve Waugh. In fact, the Australians went on to lose the 2001 Border-Gavaskar series to India by 2-1.
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