5 Golden innings from Indians you cannot forget

This is a new era of batsmanship. When you look at the last decade, it was dominated by batsmen because of the introduction of the T20 format. Even though we have had some close contests between the ball and the bat in the longer format, the shorter format hasn't been kind to the bowlers.

Every ODI is more or less about defending or chasing in excess of 320 which leaves the bowler with limited options. There was a time where bowlers stepped up to defend a 200 odd total comfortably. Because of flat pitches and boundaries becoming easy to clear, an undesirable advantage is with the batsmen.

In the longer format, it has been an even contest, you can't run away with the game smashing, but you will have to apply yourself and play with lot of grit and determination. In the late 90s and early 2000s, pitches were a lot green with the outfield not as quick.

Fortunately, India was able to produce some of the legends of the game during that period. It was not just about their technique, but the way they used to apply themselves to take the team out of trouble.

If you would ask me to chose my Test team of 21st century, it would be Sehwag and Gambhir at the top, Dravid at 3, Sachin at 4, Ganguly at 5 and Laxman at 6. You cannot have an eleven without Kumble and Zaheer. I was fortunate enough to be born in that period where the GOLDEN GENERATION was at its peak.

I still remember the Adelaide test match where Dravid played one of the finest innings in the history of Indian cricket. I, as a 7 year old used to wake up at 5 in the morning just to see them complete centuries, be it Ganguly's ton in Brisbane, Sehwag's quickfire 195 on the boxing day or Sachin's 241 at the SCG.

It gives me goosebumps when writing about this, even today. I was privileged to be able to witness some of the greatest innings in the history of the game. It's unfair to rate them, but all have their favorites, so do I. Here are the 5 best knocks according to me:

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#1 Very Very Special Laxman's '281' against the 'mighty' Aussies in 2001-02 series:

That day Aussies decided never to enforce follow-on when playing against the Indians, such was the impact of this innings on them. They had a massive 274 run lead over the hosts and were pretty confident in winning this match and go up 2-0 in the series. But Laxman had different plans.

We got a decent start but found ourselves in deep trouble after Ganguly's departure at 232/4. And the rest was history. With Dravid and Laxman on the crease, the hosts had a huge task at hand. Facing the likes of McGrath, Gillespie, Warne and Kasprowicz, they decimated the attack with a 376-run partnership.

Laxman scored a mammoth 281 which was voted as the best innings in the last 50 years. It would be a blunder if I don't mention Dravid's 180 which helped us set a target of 384. Australia crumbled for 212, thanks to a 6 wicket haul from Harbhajan and vital 3 wickets by Sachin. The loss brought an end to 16-match winning streak of the Aussies.

#2 'The Wall' comes to the party in Adelaide

The victory in Adelaide in the 2003-04 will definitely go down as one of the finest victories on foreign soil, thanks to that outstanding 233 by Rahul Dravid. It was an innings of pure class and patience.

At 85-4, India was heading towards another collapse. But the Dravid-Laxman combo gave a solid 303 run stand, taking India to 523 with a trail of 33 runs. That was an innings of character by the great man. He took the attack to the opposition and got the team out of trouble. Again in the second innings, he scored a handy 60 that helped India level the series 1-1.

#3 Sachin's 136 against Pak in Madras(1999):

Sachin has played some multiple extraordinary innings throughout the course of his wonderful career, but there was one particular knock, that I loved the most. Yes, you guessed it right, that 136 in hot and humid conditions in Madras stands out for me.

While Sachin was playing the innings of his life and taking the attack to the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saqlain Mushtaq, he was also dealing with one problem at the same time- back spasms. At the score of 83, Sachin was down on the ground and required attention from the physio. However, he kept going on and notched up a brilliant century.

But he was running out of partners on the other end as Mongia was dismissed after scoring a half-century. Sachin kept fighting for India and helped the hosts reach within touching distance of the winning score. But Saqlain was also having the match of his life. He scalped the precious wicket of Sachin for 136 and derailed the Indian chase.

With Sachin's dismissal, India lost the momentum and eventually fell short of the target by 12 runs.

#4 When Nawab of Najafgharh became 'Multan Ka Sultan' :

This knock was special to every Indian because it was the first time an Indian had scored in excess of 300 in a test. In 2004, India went to Pakistan to play a 3 Test-series after a long gap.

After winning the toss and batting first, the Sehwag-Chopra duo added 160 runs for the first wicket. But they lost 2 wickets in quick succession with Sachin coming in. The Sehwag-Sachin duo had a mammoth 336 run partnership for the third wicket, but Viru stole the show with his aggressive batting.

The innings was a treat to watch. Viru smashd the bowlers all around the park. He was 228 not out at the end of day 1. He got to the 300 runs landmark with a six off Saqlain Mushtaq. Only Sehwag had the audacity to do such things.

The knock consisted of 39 fours and 6 maximums. He had scored 62 runs out of 309 against the Rawalpindi Express. India went on to score 675 runs and eventually went on to win the match by an innings and 52 runs and go up 1-0 in the series.

#5 Dada's 144 at Brisbane:

People often remember Dravid's 233 at the Adelaide or Sachin's 241* in Sydney, but Ganguly's 144 in the first Test match at Brisbane propelled the team to perform well in the series.

The hosts scored 323 in their first innings. In reply, India was struggling at 62/3 with Sachin and Dravid back in the pavilion. If not for that amazing batting by Ganguly along with Laxman, the hosts would have won the first Test thereby having that psychological advantage going ahead into the series.

Ganguly was on top of his game and played a match-saving knock which consisted of 18 boundaries. The match ended in a draw, but this brought a lot of confidence in the team. We were able to level the series 1-1, and were the only team who challenged the Aussies back then.