India's 5 biggest overseas wins in Tests
Team India secured a mammoth over the West Indies to make a winning start to their 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The Men in Blue wrapped up the contest in three days by an innings and 141 runs, which marks one of their biggest overseas wins in Tests.
The Indian bowlers made easy work of the fragile West Indies batting unit by bundling them out for 150 in the first innings. The visitors proceeded to dominate with the bat as well, with debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Rohit Sharma scoring solid hundreds.
The Windies were then bowled out in just 50 overs, scoring only 130 runs in their second innings as India secured a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 12 wickets to register his best Test figures away from home. The gap between the two nations was clearly on show as India made easy work of the West Indies.
India have had their fair share of issues in overseas assignments, but they also have managed to dominate the opposition on their turf to make a statement.
On that note, let us take at Team India's five biggest overseas wins.
#1 India vs Bangladesh (win by an innings and 239 runs; Mirpur, 2007)
The Men in Blue toured Bangladesh for three ODIs and two Tests in 2007 following their infamous 2007 upset at the ODI World Cup.
Bangladesh had managed to draw the first Test and the series was on the line in the second and final contest, as India came out all guns blazing.
India scored a mammoth 610-3 in the first innings, with each of their top-four batters - Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar - scoring hundreds.
The visiting bowlers also began on a bright note by reducing the opposition to 7-4 and eventually bowled them out for 118, courtesy of Zaheer Khan's five-wicket haul. India then enforced the follow-on.
Bangladesh could not make an impact after being reduced to 10-3 in the second innings. A counter-attacking fifty by Mashrafe Mortaza took the team to 253, but it was far from enough and gave India their biggest overseas win, a record that stands tall to this day.
#2 India vs Sri Lanka (win by an innings and 171 runs; Pallekele 2017)
Team India won all of their matches across formats during their tour of Sri Lanka in 2017. Among their multiple triumphs, they also secured a record win in the third Test in Pallekele.
The visitors posted 487 in the first innings after centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya. In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 135, encouraging India to enforce the follow-on.
The hosts could not do any better in the second innings as well, managing only 181 runs to give India a famous win to complete the whitewash.
#3 India vs West Indies (win by an innings and 141 runs; Dominica 2023)
The third entry on the list is Team India's most recent conquest. West Indies, hoping to make an impression after their failure to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup, won the toss and elected to bat first. They were met with the harsh reality as they had no answer to Ravichandran Ashwin's spin bowling.
West Indies were bowled out for just 150 runs in a little over two sessions, following which India patiently played out 152 overs to amass a 271-run lead. The Windies once again offered little resistance in their second innings as the Indian spinners ran through their batting lineup to secure their fifth-biggest win outside of Asia.
Debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal was adjudged as player of the match for his patient 171 off 387 deliveries. Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, registered the best bowling figures of his Test career with five-wicket hauls across both innings.
#4 India vs Bangladesh (win by an innings and 140 runs; Dhaka 2004)
Sachin Tendulkar's highest Test score of 248 and Irfan Pathan's 10-wicket haul were the key highlights in Team India's fourth-biggest overseas win.
Led by the left-arm pacer's five-wicket haul in the first innings, Team India were able to bowl out Bangladesh for just 184 runs.
In reply, the visitors piled on 526 runs, giving them a mighty first-innings lead. Bangladesh could only score 202 runs in their second innings as the visitors won the series opener.
India eventually went on to win the series by a 2-0 margin.
#5 India vs Pakistan (win by an innings and 131 runs; Rawalpindi 2004)
India attained their biggest red-ball win over their arch-rivals during the 2004 tour. The Test is fondly remembered for Rahul Dravid's marathon 270-run knock and the eventual series win on enemy turf.
The memorable Test series reached its finale with the scoreline level at 1-1. India bowled out Pakistan for 224 in the first innings following which they batted for a staggering 177.2 overs to pile up 600 runs.
Pakistan were unable to post a final innings target for India as they crumbled to 245 runs in the second innings to conclude the series.
Will Team India notch yet another dominant win in the second Test against the West Indies? Let us know what you think.