Remembering India's first Test win in each of the overseas test-playing nations

#5. Sri Lanka, 1993

Manoj Prabhakar's brilliant all-round performance helped India register their first Test win in Sri Lanka

After a successful Test and ODI series at home against Zimbabwe, India would travel south to play Sri Lanka in a three-match Test series. The first Test at Kandy saw only 49 minutes of play on Day-2 as the remaining days were washed out due to rain, thus making it the shortest Test in history.

The second Test was played at Colombo with Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin opting to bat first. A brilliant century from Vinod Kambli assisted by Navjot Singh Sidhu’s 82 took India to 366 in their first innings. In reply, Sri Lanka could score only 254 with skipper Arjuna Ranatunga top scoring with 88 while the other batsmen could not contribute much mainly due to Anil Kumble who bowled a spell of 5/87.

In the second innings, centuries from Sidhu and Sachin Tendulkar (both scoring 104) and a 95 from Manoj Prabhakar took India to 359/4 after which Azharuddin declared. Thus Sri Lanka needed to script the highest Test run-chase in Test match cricket to win the match, needing 472 to win.

Aravinda de Silva was the only Sri Lankan player who tried to stay on the crease with little resilience being shown by Chandika Hathurusingha and Asanka Gurusinha as the Indian bowlers were wreaking havoc. De Silva’s 93 wasn’t enough as India bowled out Sri Lanka for 236, thus registering their first win in the country.

Amongst the Indian bowlers, both Kumble and Prabhakar took three wickets while Kapil Dev took two with the remaining two wickets being taken by Javagal Srinath and Rajesh Chauhan. Manoj Prabhakar was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant all-round performance throughout the match.

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#6. Bangladesh, 2000

Sunil Joshi produced a brilliant performance against Bangladesh in 2000

India’s visit to Bangladesh in 2000 was a historical moment in Bangladesh cricket as this would be their first ever Test match. The Bangladesh side had a lot of layers who played at the 1999 World Cup including their then skipper Aminul Islam, Mohammad Rafique, Akram Khan, and Khaled Mashud.

Bangladesh won the toss and skipper Naimur Rahman opted to bat first. The hosts were off to a horrible start as they lost openers Shahriar and Mehrab Hossain early, the latter being Zaheer Khan’s first Test scalp. However, Habibul Bashar and Aminul Islam batted calmly to keep the scoreboard ticking for Bangladesh. The duo added 66 for the third wicket before Habibul Bashar was dismissed by debutant Zaheer Khan for 71.

Aminul Islam batted his way to his century, thus becoming Bangladesh’s first Test centurion before being dismissed for 145. They ended their innings at 400 which was quite an impressive total for a first-timer. Amongst the Indian bowlers, Sunil Joshi picked up 5 wickets while Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan picked up two wickets each.

In reply, India scored 429 thanks to a brilliant 92 from Sunil Joshi towards the end of the innings in addition to skipper Sourav Ganguly’s 84 and Sadagoppan Ramesh’s 58. Bangladesh captain Naimur Rahman bowled a spell of 6/132 that included the wickets of both Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

In their second innings, some sensational bowling from the Indian bowlers, mainly Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar, and Sunil Joshi blew away Bangladesh for just 91, giving India a target of only 63 to chase down.

India comprehensively chased down the total with nine wickets to spare to win their first Test at Bangladesh. Sunil Joshi was unsurprisingly adjudged the Man of the Match for his wonderful all-round effort that comprised 92 in the first innings and 8 wickets in the match.