5 thrilling draws involving India affected by rain or bad light 

The beauty of Test cricket, as opposed to limited overs cricket, is that a match that cannot be won must not necessarily be lost due to the possibility of a draw. While the draw is often panned for producing drab games, it can often lead to hugely exciting contests.

On the other hand, Test matches which are often left for dead by viewers since it has been delayed by rain ultimately lead to exciting draws, with one or the other team in with the chance of enforcing a result.

This sot of uncertainty is what makes Test cricket such a thrilling game. On the other hand, bad light can often play spoilsport and end a game abruptly that might have been heading for an exciting finish. Over the years, India have been involved in plenty of such games, with the one against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens a few days ago being the latest one.

In some cases, they might have escaped with a draw while in others they might have been at the wrong end of the results. Here is a look at 5 such Test matches.

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#5 Australia v India, Melbourne, 1985

India have never won a Test series in Australia but it was perhaps during the tour of 1985-86 that the team came closest to clinching a series win, and it was the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne in 1985 that will go down as a missed opportunity.

That being said, the match was far from over when rain stopped play and the umpires called the game off on the last day.

After dismissing Australia for 262, India replied with 445 and after dismissing the hosts a second time for 308, India were left to score 126 runs on the final day. They had two sessions to score those runs to win an absorbing Test match that they had dominated. However, after a steady start, India lost Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth, to give Australia a sniff in the game and while it was looking like the game might turn out to be a classic fight, rain intervened to rob the spectators of a thrilling finish.

That being said, there is no doubt that India were firmly on top when the rains arrived. They were 59/2 when play was called off.

#4 England v India, Lord's, 1971

Mankad bowled during the 1971 series in England

After having beaten the West Indies away, India travelled to England with high hopes of winning their first ever Test series in the country. In the very first Test at Lord's, India gave a great account of themselves and ran England close but eventually escaped with a draw due to rain.

India dismissed England for 304, thanks to Bishan Singh Bedi's 4/70 and BS Chandrasekhar's 3/110, before securing a marginal first innings lead by scoring 313 themselves. A battling 85 from captain Ajit Wadekar and 60 odd from both GR Vishwanath and Eknath Solkar propelled India to that score.

In England's second innings, off-spinner Srinivas Venkataraghavan bowled superbly to pick up 4/52 and the hosts were dismissed for 191, leaving India with a target of 201 to take a lead in the series. With a win well in their sights, India made a mess of it after being 101-4 at one point and eventually found themselves gasping at 142-8 but the rain came to their rescue with the scoreboard reading 145-8.

Having escaped with the draw, India went on to win the three-Test series 1-0.

#3 India v Pakistan, 2007

Anil Kumble

In the three-game Test series against Pakistan at home in 2007, the teams arrived in Bengaluru for the final Test with India leading the series 1-0. India batted first and thanks to Sourav Ganguly's 239 and Yuvraj Singh's scintillating 169, in addition to Irfan Pathan's 133 balls 102 at number 8, they piled up 626 in the first innings. Pakistan responded with 537 but there was no doubt that the match was heading for a tame draw.

India batted for 76.3 overs and scored 284 to set Pakistan an improbable target of 374 in 47 overs on the last day. The only possibility here was a draw and when the openers Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt took them to 44 for no loss, it was a foregone conclusion.

However, that is when captain Anil Kumble triggered an incredible collapse to raise the visions of a famous win as he picked up 4 wickets to reduce Pakistan to 144-4 in the 32nd over. Kumble picked up one more wicket and Yuvraj Singh took two more as Pakistan found themselves precariously placed at 154-7 in the 35th over.

With 11 overs still to be played, India were definitely the favourites to win the game but then bat light stopped play and robbed India of a famous victory against their arch-rivals.

#2 South Africa v India, 1997

The Wanderers, Johannesburg

The 1996-97 tour to South Africa had been a particularly torrid one for the Sachin Tendulkar-led Indian team and after being routed in the first two Tests at Durban and Cape Town, the visitors were there for the taking in the final Test at Johannesburg. However, India showed that they had grown accustomed to the conditions by then and powered by Rahul Dravid's superb 148 and Sourav Ganguly's 73, in addition to some lower order runs, they scored 410 in the first innings.

In their reply, South Africa could only muster 321 and Javagal Srinath's 5 wicket haul went a long way in giving India a sniff of win in the Test match. However, rain was a regular occurrence in the Test match and after India declared at 228/8 in their 2nd innings, South Africa were left to score 356 to win the game. India bowled superbly in the 2nd innings and South Africa found themselves teetering at 77/5.

However, a spell of rain killed the momentum and the delay from the ground staff in getting the ground ready for play further killed India's chances of a famous victory on the final day. After the resumption of play, South Africa lost wickets and were staring at a defeat with the scoreboard reading 95-7 but Lance Klusener offered some resistance. Eventually, the game ended due to bad light with four overs still to go and South Africa holding on grimly at 228-8.

#1 England v India, Lord's 2007

A pensive Michael Vaughan after India's escape at Lord's

Another tour to England and another narrow escape at Lord's in the first Test proved to be the catalyst for yet another famous series win back in 2007. England batted first and scored 298, thanks to a composed 96 from Andrew Strauss and 79 from captain Michael Vaughan. In their response, India could not negotiate the swing and seam generated by Ryan Sidebottom (4/65) and James Anderson (5/42) and were bundled out for 201.

The game was firmly in England's favour and they drove home the advantage by scoring 282 in their second innings. Kevin Pietersen scored a superb 134 to pretty much kill any chances India might have entertained of a comeback.

Set to score 380 by England, a draw was the only option for India and they ended the 4th day at 137/3. Needless to say, things didn't look promising for India and having been reduced to 145-5 on the last day, things were looking pretty desperate.

However, a combination of rain and a combative match-saving innings from MS Dhoni (76 not out off 259 deliveries) kept India afloat. Eventually, play was called off with India placed at 282/9 with Dhoni and last man S Sreesanth trying desperately to hang in there.

It was a thrilling watch no doubt but India escaped with a draw in a game that they were almost certain to lose.