India's Best Victories: In Test, ODI & T20 

The Indian cricket team has won many memorable contests, in all forms of Cricket, be it Test Matches, One Day Internationals or T-20 Internationals.

Of all those wins, which three, are the all-time best wins, in the 3 different formats of Cricket ?

This is a very difficult choice to make, and there will be different opinions about the selections.

More than the quality or the magnitude, what has been given more importance in the selection of the three wins is, what impact the wins had, in inspiring the future generations and on taking forward the game as a whole.

The selection is as follows.

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#1 India vs Australia 2nd Test Border Gavaskar Trophy-2001 (In Kolkata)

India has many memorable Test Match wins to cherish, like the wins against the great West Indies Team in 1971 in Port of Spain, the 1986 Test match wins in England, the win against Australia in Adelaide in 2003 or beating the arch-rivals Pakistan in Multan.

However, the test match win, that stands out, was the win against the mighty Australian Team, in the second Test match of the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

After losing the 1st test match badly and following on in the second test match, India seemed down and out. Then came the unimaginable comeback. Lead by VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, who batted for a whole day, India not only erased the deficit but set Australia a target of 384 runs to win on the final day. Then came the magical spell of Harbhajan Singh who ripped apart the famous Australian batting line up to complete the famous victory.

This was one of the greatest test matches of all time. Also for Indian Test Cricket, this victory holds special significance. It lead to the starting of an era of Indian Cricket where the team was fearless and ready to compete and win against any opponent and in any condition.

#2 1983 World Cup Final Victory against West Indies:

Kapil Dev India 175 not out V Zimbabwe 1983 Cricket World Cup

Before the 1983 World Cup victory, the Indian cricket team was never considered a contender to win any big tournaments.

Even in the final match in Lord's, on 25th June 1983, most of the people did not give India any chance against the great West Indies team (Winners of the previous 2 editions of the World Cup). However proving everybody wrong, India did the unimaginable, i.e. beating the West Indies Team by 43 runs and winning the World Cup.

India, a powerhouse in ODI cricket since then, had many more great ODI victories after that, viz. 2011 World Cup Finals, Hero Cup Final Win, 2003 World Cup Win against Pakistan or the win against Australia in Sharjah to name a few.

However, the impact that the 1983 World Cup Final victory had, was immense. One Day Cricket in India became a craze. Cricket spread from the big cities to the nooks and corners of the country. Overnight, the game of cricket became synonymous with India's sporting Identity.

#3 2007 World T-20 Final Victory vs Pakistan

Pakistan v India - Twenty20 Championship Final

Months after the horrendous 2007 ODI World Cup performance (Knocked out in the 1st Round), India came into the 1st T-20 World Cup in South Africa, with a 2nd string team, as the seniors opted out.

What transpired over the next 2 weeks, was something remarkable.

India went on to win matches against full strength South Africa, England & Australia Teams, to reach the dream final against their arch-rival Pakistan. (Which never happened in ODI World Cups).

The final match also went till the very end, as India won by just 5 runs when Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq got caught by Sreesanth of the bowling of Joginder Sharma in the very last over.

This made the T-20 format a hugely popular one, all over the world and especially in India.

India's win paved the way for the acceptance of T-20 Cricket in the country, as a form which is most attractive, and something which should not be abolished.

Hence this was the most important T-20 match not only for India but also for the format as a whole.