Few iconic moments in Indian cricket since Independence.

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Few iconic moments in Indian cricket since Independence.

It has been 75 years since India attained Independence. But cricket in India has only developed ever since. Not just cricket, every sport took the path of development, and we witnessed history being created.

Over the years, India has become a cricketing giant, dominating the sport in every format.

Throughout the years, Indian cricket has produced so many moments for their fans to cheer. Out of all those moments, a few handpicked iconic moments in the history of the Indian cricket team will always be remembered by every Indian fan.

1) First test victory on foreign soil.

Winning Tests away from home represented the biggest challenge for India. The attack-minded Tiger Pataudi did just that when he led his men to a five-wicket win over Graham Dowling's New Zealand at Dunedin in 1968. It was a breakthrough moment for Indian Cricket.

Erapalli Prasanna, that off-spinner with a magical mind and a bag of tricks, turned the Test India's way with his six for 94 in the Kiwi's second innings. And India reached the target of 200 with stylish southpaw Ajit Wadekar contributing a priceless 71, which followed innings of 80 in the first.

2) India won the 1983 World Cup.

25 June 1983, a match that brightens the future of Indian Cricket. The venue was Lord's, the spiritual home ground of cricket where India created history by winning its first world cup under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

With the help of K. Srikkanth's 38 runs and Mohinder Amarnath's 26 runs, India managed to get a total of 183 runs. Later, with The help of Amarnath's allrounder effort of 3/12 and Madan Lal's 3/21, and the Iconic catch of Sir Viv Richards taken by Kapil Dev (the turning point of the match) helped India to win the world cup.

3) Desert Storm in Sharjah (1998).

This series was billed as Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne, the world's greatest batsman against the world's best spinner. But Tendulkar beat the Aussie to a pulp, smashing 143 to help India qualify for the Coca-Cola Cup final. And just to prove that it was no fluke, he scored 134 two days later as India beat Australia in the final.

That series is fondly remembered for Sachin's 'Desert Storm'.

4) India's first-ever T20I World Cup win - 2007.

When the first-ever World Cup was held in South Africa in the 20-over format. India, led by a young captain named MS Dhoni, shocked everyone by winning the tournament by 5 runs over arch-rival Pakistan.

Pakistan only needed 13 runs in the final over with just one wicket in hand. Joginder Sharma was brought in by Dhoni to bowl the final over. Misbah attempted to tackle him with a scoop shot over the short fine leg, but Sreesanth made no errors in taking the game's final catch as India scripted history.

5) No. 1 spot in ICC Test Team Rankings for the first time- 2009.

India attained the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for the teams introduced in June 2003 on December 6, 2009, for the first time.

Team India achieved the highest rank, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, after winning their fourth straight series with an innings victory against Sri Lanka at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium. They held the position up until 2011.

6) India's 2nd World Cup win - 2011.

Chasing 275 runs in order to win the coveted cup, India lost their key players Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar quickly. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli shared an 83-run stand before the latter departed. Dhoni promoted himself up in the batting lineup and joined Gambhir in the chase.

Dhoni hit an incredible six to finish off the chase in style as India lifted the iconic World Cup. Under the leadership of MS Dhoni, India had lifted yet another major ICC Title.

7) India's first-ever Test series win in Australia - 2018-19.

India dominated the Australians in their own backyard in the final two Tests, winning the series 2-1, thanks to outstanding bowling by the aggressive Indian bowling attack and outstanding batting by the experienced Cheteswar Pujara throughout the series.

8) First away series sweep (2013).

India completed a 3-0 series sweep against Sri Lanka. This was India's first ever clean-sweep away from home in a series with at least three Tests. Shikhar Dhawan of India scored the most runs in the series.

9) Sourav Ganguly's T-shirt Moment in Lord's Balcony.

India was playing the test series decider in Lord. India had a gigantic 316 total to chase in front of them, which was not quite chaseable during that time. But Sourav Ganguly & Sehwag built a solid 106-run partnership for 1st wicket, but what followed next was a collapse as India went on from 106/0 to 146/5. Everyone lost hope of winning after Sachin's dismissal.

The two newcomers Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif took the charge of the innings to build a 121-run partnership, until Yuvraj's wicket.

The situation got tensed as wickets kept falling from the other end. India required 2 runs off 4 balls when Kaif & Zaheer completed two runs after an overthrow to emerge victoriously. India won & Sourav Ganguly celebrated in style by waving his T-shirt on Lord's balcony.

10) Sachin Retires From International Cricket.

The 'God Of Cricket' decided to retire from international cricket on 16 November 2013, after a long 24-year career and giving uncountable memories to Indian and world cricket fans.

The man who inspired billion of people and generations to take up cricket as a sport finally decided to rest his bat forever.

The last test match against West Indies was special and even the bowler and fielders didn't celebrate after dismissing Sachin.

The speech by Sachin Tendulkar made every person cry and for the last time, the whole nation paused to watch their God on the cricket field as a player.

11) 2013 Champions Trophy win.

After winning the 2011 World Cup, the Men in Blue went through a transition phase, especially in white-ball cricket.

Greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir were replaced by Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli as the new top three.

The then-skipper MS Dhoni handled this transition really well and created a strong base of a team that would go on to dominate ODI cricket for the coming years.

In the 2013 Champions Trophy, they found new heroes in Rohit and Dhawan and a reliable all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja. The Men in Blue went unbeaten throughout the tournament and beating hosts England in the final was the icing on the cake.

12) The maiden double hundred in ODI.

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar registered one more record on his name on 24 Feb 2010. Sachin became the first batsman to score a double hundred in ODI. Master hit unbeaten 200(off 147 balls, 4×25, 6×3).

India may not be regarded as a sporting superpower like the United States or China, but they have been moving up the rankings recently. India's seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics last year marked their highest medal total at the quadrennial competition.

In addition to Neeraj Chopra winning India's first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Olympics, the Indian badminton team also made history by winning the Thomas Cup for the first time.

The game of cricket has also developed, and over the years Indian cricket has experienced some extraordinary moments and attained some great heights.