Top 5 Indian victories over Australia in the 21st century

India and Australia have without a doubt been the two biggest names in international cricket in the past 20 years. While Australia ruled cricket in the 2000s, India are doing the same in the 2010s.

An India vs Australia match is something that cricket fans all around the globe wait for. Any India-Australia encounter has 'blockbuster' written all over it.

It's not just an on-field cricket game between two teams, but also a clash of the two most passionate cricket fan-bases in the world.

The mind games played by opponents and the crowd make these encounters even more heated and exciting than normal. There have been many incidents of on-field verbal exchanges between the players of two sides, and the crowd, which is said to be the 12th man of any team, has also played a major role spicing things up between these two teams.

India have got off to a winning start in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy being held in Australia, marking another notable win in the historic rivalry. On that note, here's a look at India's top 5 most iconic triumphs over Australia since 2000:

#5 India vs Australia, WorldT20 2007 semifinal

Yuvraj dispatches the ball for a 6

With Pakistan having already qualified for the final by beating New Zealand in the first semifinal of the 2007 WT20, everyone wanted to see India win the other semifinal so that there would be an India vs Pakistan match in the final.

With a semifinal already being a high-voltage match filled with drama and tension, the expectations of the two countries made this match an event of its own. And India didn't disappoint in the end.

Yuvraj Singh played one of the greatest T20I knocks ever, scoring 70 off 30 balls after coming in to bat when the Aussie bowlers were dismantling the Indian top order. And later, a spell of a lifetime by Shreesanth made sure of India’s victory.

Beating the 50-over champions in the WT20 semis was indeed a special moment.

#4 India vs Australia, Champions Trophy 2000 quarterfinal

Yuvraj hits the ball for a boundary in his knock of 84

The Sourav Ganguly-led Indian side faced the world champions in the quarterfinal of the second edition of Champions Trophy tournament. After the entire match-fixing saga, this was India's first major tournament.

Beating Australia in the knockout stage of any tournament is never an easy task, and India were going into the Champions Trophy with very little momentum. But defying all odds, the team did the impossible.

What makes the match more special is that it gave India the two superstars who would lead the next generation of Indian cricket i.e. Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh. The latter was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant 84 in his first ever ODI innings.

#3 India vs Australia, Adelaide 2003-04

Dravid hits the winning shot in the famous Adelaide Test of 2003-04

An Australian tour Down Under is probably the biggest cricket festival for Indian fans. And this particular series was destined to go down in the history books even before a single ball was bowled.

The stage was all set for Steve Waugh’s last Test series, and every Indian wanted revenge for that horrific day in the World Cup 2003 final where Australia annihilated India.

With India drawing the rain-affected first Test, both teams were eager to draw first blood by taking the lead in the remaining three matches. And India's Great Wall rose to the occasion, scoring a double ton in the first innings at Adelaide.

Rahul Dravid totally outshone Ricky Ponting’s efforts, scoring another magnificent 72 in the second innings where India chased down 233 to take a 1-0 lead.

#2 India vs Australia, World Cup 2011 quarterfinal

India won the hard fought battle with the Kangaroos

India faced the three-time defending 50-over World Champions in their first match of the knockout stage.

This match will always be remembered for the passion and aggression shown by three of the greatest cricketers of our generation i.e. Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Yuvraj Singh.

With Australia marching towards their 5th World Cup triumph, the hosts India were determined to stop their run and also avenge that infamous 2003 World Cup final.

Chasing 260+ total in a high-pressure game is never easy, especially when the opponents are defending champions Australia. But Yuvraj Singh rose to the occasion again when Team India needed him the most, and he made sure that the nation slept well.

This was the match that ended Ponting's and Australia’s dominant run of a decade. Ponting did his best with his batting and captaincy to keep his nation’s hopes intact, but in the end it's a team game that one player can't win single-handedly.

India were certainly a better “team” on that day and they won the match, thus ending Australia’s World Cup winning streak.

#1 India vs Australia, Kolkata 2001

The historic test of Kolkata

Considered as one of the greatest Tests ever, this match changed Indian cricket forever.

Having gone 0-1 down after the Mumbai Test, India were down and out and hoping for a miracle to beat Steve Waugh’s unbeatable Australian side that was on a 16 match winning streak.

And what happened in that match in Kolkata was nothing less than a miracle.

Following-on in the second innings, India were on the verge of losing the second Test too, which would mean a series defeat for them. But VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid wrote the script of one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Test cricket.

Trailing by 274 runs in the second innings, India had to hang on for another two and a half days to make sure they didn't lose the match. Being 4 down for 232, the hosts trailed by another 42 runs when Dravid came in to bat. And what happened next is history; the 376-run partnership between Laxman and Dravid is the stuff of folklore.

Laxman's innings was voted as the best Test innings of the last 50 years, and Dravid too played the one of best Test knocks of his career. India ended up winning that historic Test and later the series too, which marked India's rise to becoming superpowers in international cricket.