5 forgotten victories of India under Rahul Dravid's captaincy
Apart from being a renowned batsmen, Rahul Dravid was a brilliant captain as well. He took over as captain when the Ganguly-Chappell saga broke out. The manner in which the Karnataka player handled the scenario was remarkable as he didn’t let off-field issues affect the team’s performances.
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Dravid’s record as captain isn’t an outstanding one but is very good especially in overseas conditions. Still, not many people talk about his captaincy career. He won Tests in Pakistan, England, West Indies and South Africa – feats not many Indian captains have been able to achieve. We look at some of India’s wins under Dravid’s captaincy which a lot of people don’t remember.
#5 1st Test vs Pakistan (Multan) – 2004
After a thrilling ODI series (which India won 3-2), India were dealt with a big blow as captain Sourav Ganguly was ruled out for the first Test due to a back injury. Rahul Dravid took over in Ganguly’s absence.
Opting to bat first, India set the tone for the match and series as they posted a mammoth 675 in their first innings. Virender Sehwag (309) became the first Indian to hit a triple century in Test cricket. Sachin Tendulkar also batted brilliantly to score his 33rd Test ton but Dravid surprisingly declared the innings when the Mumbaikar was batting on 194.
On a placid track, Indian bowlers bowled with a lot of heart and showed great patience to bundle out Pakistan for 407. With a lead of 267, the visitors decided to enforce a follow-on on the fourth day.
Once again the Pakistani batsmen were put under pressure by some excellent bowling. In the second essay (following on), even Yousuf Youhana’s fighting 112 wasn’t enough as Pakistan were bowled out for 216. Kumble ran through the hosts’ middle order to finish with figures of 6/72 (his 24th five-wicket haul) and helped India get their first Test win on Pakistani soil.
Brief Scores: India 675 for 5 dec (Sehwag 309, Tendulkar 194*, Yuvraj 59, Sami 2/110) beat Pakistan 407 (Hameed 91, Inzamam 77, Pathan 4-100, Tendulkar 2/36) and 216 (Youhana 112, Kumble 6-72, Pathan 2/26) by an innings and 52 runs