Five most memorable overseas Test wins for India in the 21st century

At the turn of the century, Indian cricket was in shambles. Following the match-fixing saga and with Sachin Tendulkar stepping down from captaincy after the home series loss to South Africa in early 2000, Sourav Ganguly was handed over the reins of the team. His immediate task was to instil a winning attitude and aggression in the team that was vastly considered 'soft' on overseas tours.

India hadn't won an overseas Test in the preceding decade, but Ganguly, blessed with an astute eye to spot talent and superlative man management skills helped develop a core of players (Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, MS Dhoni) who went on to script many memorable overseas Test wins for India in the 21st century.

Here's a look at five memorable overseas Test wins for India in the 21st Century.

#5 South Africa vs India, Johannesburg 2006

It took 15 years and 3 winless tours for India before they could finally register their first win on South African soil. The Rahul Dravid-led team defeated South Africa by 123 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The match marked the comeback of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who played a crucial innings of 51, pushing India's total to 249.

Then, Sreesanth (5/40) bowled one of the best spells ever bowled by an Indian bowler overseas to knock over South Africa for 84. India, with the help of VVS Laxman (73), could only manage 236 in the second innings, leaving South Africa 401 runs to win. A valiant effort by Ashwell Prince in the second innings was not enough as South Africa capitulated against the duo of Zaheer and Sreesanth who claimed three wickets each to hand India one of their most famous win overseas.

India 249 (Sourav Ganguly 51, Shaun Pollock 4/39) & 236 (VVS Laxman 73, Shaun Pollock 3/33) beat South Africa 84 (Ashwell Prince 24, Sreesanth 5/40) & 278 (Ashwell Pince 97, Anil Kumble 3/54) by 123 runs.

#4 England vs India, Lord's 2014

India had not won a Test at Lord's for 28 years, and they weren't expected to do much better when England dished out a 'green mamba' in the second Test of the Investec Test series in 2014. A defiant hundred by Ajinkya Rahane (103), diligently supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (36) resurrected India's innings from 145/7 to a competitive 295 all out.

Bhuvneshwar was once again the star with the ball in the 1st Innings as his 6/82 helped India restrict England to 319, despite Garry Ballance's hundred. Trailing England by 24, India were once again on tender hooks at 123/4, leading England by a mere 98.

A resilient Vijay (95) and quick cameos from Ravindra Jadeja (68) and Bhuvneshwar (52) helped India set England 318 runs to win. Subsequently, Ishant Sharma (7/74) compiled his magnum opus to bounce out England, scripting a glorious victory for India by 95 runs.

India 295 (Ajinkya Rahane 103, James Anderson 4/60) & 342 (Murali Vijay 95, Ben Stokes 3/51) beat England 319 (Gary Ballance 110, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6/82) & 223 (Joe Root 66, Ishant Sharma 7/74) by 95 runs.

#3 Australia vs India, Perth 2008

Amidst the 'monkey-gate' scandal, a plethora of wrong umpiring decisions and a rampaging Australian team in pursuit of their 17th consecutive Test win, India had their task cut out when they took on the Aussies in the 3rd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2007/08 at the WACA in Perth.

Trailing 0-2 in the series, India, powered by gritty batting displays from Rahul Dravid (93) and Sachin Tendulkar (71), posted a respectable 330 in the first innings. An outstanding spell of swing bowling by the duo of RP Singh (4/68) and Irfan Pathan (2/63) helped India gain a significant first-innings lead of 118 runs.

That lead was further enhanced by a watchful 46 by night-watchman Irfan Pathan and yet another VVS Laxman second innings classic, whose knock ensured Australia needed to chase a world record 413 runs to win their 17th Test in a row.

Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey battled for two and a half hours, and not since Flintoff 2005 has any bowler made the Australian skipper look like such an amateur as Ishant did during his marathon 9 over spell. He eventually got Ponting caught at slip to Rahul Dravid, and with Symonds (12) and Hussey (0) receiving lbw decisions, and Gilchrist (15) being bowled round his legs by Sehwag (2/24), the clock was ticking on Austalia's 16-match winning streak.

However, Mitchell Johnson (50) led the typical Australian fight, smacking the bowlers all around the WACA, especially Anil Kumble. As he threatened to take the game away, Kumble turned to his fast bowlers, who quickly polished off the tail to hand India one of their most memorable wins overseas.

India 330 (Rahul Dravid 93, Mitchell Johnson 4/86) & 294 (VVS Laxman 79, Stuart Clarke 4/61) beat Australia 212 (Andrew Symonds 66, RP Singh 4/68) & 340 (Michael Clarke 81, Irfan Pathan 3/54) by 72 runs.

#2 England vs India, Leeds 2002

It was overcast conditions at Leeds, but Sourav Ganguly, the attacking captain that he was, decided to bat first, a decision visiting captains would seldom take on a damp pitch. Batting first, India lost Virender Sehwag (8) cheaply but then Sanjay Bangar (68) and Rahul Dravid (148) in an outstanding display of old-fashioned Test match batting created a platform on which Sachin Tendulkar (193) and Sourav Ganguly's (128) respective hundreds helped propel the tourists to a mammoth 628/8d.

England never really got going, with Michael Vaughan (61) and Alex Stewart (78) the only significant contributors as they folded for 273 all out. Following on in their second innings, English Captain Nasser Hussain (110) with an outstanding hundred tried to delay the inevitable but with very little support from other batsmen, the duo of Anil Kumble (4/66) and Harbhajan Singh (1/56) bowled the hosts out for 309, scripting a famous win (by an innings & 46 runs) for India.

India 628/8d (Sachin Tendulkar 193, Andrew Caddick 3/150) beat England 273 (Alex Stewart 78*, Harbhajan Singh 3/40) & 309 (Nasser Hussain 110, Anil Kumble 4/66) by an innings & 46 runs.

#1 Australia vs India, Adelaide 2003

Arguably India's best overseas win came at Adelaide in Steve Waugh's last series. Buoyed by Ricky Ponting's mammoth 242, Australia had India on the mat, reeling at 85/4 in response to their first innings total of 556. But then, the horrors of Kolkata 2001 came back to haunt Steve Waugh and his team again as Rahul Dravid (233) and VVS Laxman (148) reproduced their Eden Gardens magic in a marathon 303 run partnership. India eventually finished at 523 all out, trailing Australia by 33 runs in the first innings. With just over five sessions left in the game, the match looked set for a draw.

But India's Ajit Agarkar (6/42), in an outstanding display of fast-medium seam and swing bowling coupled with a buoyant fielding effort, skittled out the Australians for a mere 196, leaving India with 233 runs to get to register their first Test win Down Under after 21 years. Dravid (72) once again led the charge for India in the second innings, fittingly hitting the winning runs and subsequently completing his 300 runs in the match. India won the game by four wickets and Dravid was duly adjudged the Man of the Match for scripting one of India's greatest Test win overseas.

Australia 556 (Ricky Ponting 242, Anil Kumble 5/154) & 196 (Adam Gilchrist 43, Ajit Agarkar 6/41) lost to India 523 (Rahul Dravid 233, Andy Bichel 4/118) & 233/6 (Rahul Dravid 72*, Simon Katich 2/22) by 4 wickets.