5 amazing series wins for India after starting on a wrong note

#2 2015, India tour of Sri Lanka, India won 2-1

India won the last two Tests against Sri Lanka winning the series 2-1

What makes the victory incredible: This was Virat Kohli’s first series as full-time Test captain. He had captained India in two Tests prior to this in Australia and once in Bangladesh without success. For an inexperienced captain to win an away series coming back from 0-1 down, is a feat hard to surpass.

The Awe factor: This is India’s first series victory away from home since 2011 and the first one ever after being a game down. It was also India’s first series victory in Sri Lanka in 22 years.

There are many reasons why this series win should be celebrated. India could have won the series 3-0 dominating most of the first Test as well but losing the game due to a couple of bad sessions. Importantly, India are in a state of transition which can be noticed from the fact that every Test had a different opening pair.

Two different No.3s were tried after Rohit Sharma was moved down and Ajinkya Rahane promoted. Two different wicket-keepers played the game after Wriddhiman Saha, the first choice had to return home after the second Test due to injury. Stuart Binny, not in the initial squad was flown down as India desperately searched for a batting all-rounder.

Amidst all this melee, India managed to find many heroes. Ajinkya Rahane stroked a classy century in the second innings of the second Test helping India build the lead needed to win the game. In the third, Cheteshwar Pujara, making a comeback became only the fourth Indian opener to carry his bat and the first in international cricket since David Warner in 2011. His 145 not out helped India get a good score in the first innings making a win possible even though almost a day of cricket was lost to rain.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra, India’s spin twins, picked up 21 and 15 wickets respectively in the series. While Ashwin was the Man of the Series, Mishra also scored two crucial half-centuries in both wins, making him a reliable tail-end batsman. Ishant Sharma’s five wicket haul in the final Test showed India could finally win a series with more contributions from its bowling unit than with the batting.