Cricket is booming in India. The demand for betting on this sport is huge and 1 victoryAlong with other Indian bookmakers, it stays up to date and offers hundreds of betting options on a daily basis. The country has become home to thousands of cricket matches, including those that have gone down in the history of the sport. Get to know India’s top 10 international matches, their dates and venues, key players, highlights and the legacy they left behind.
Selection criteria
The matches on this list are rated fairly and evaluated based on several criteria, starting with historical impact. The match takes on greater significance if it includes teams that have been rivals for a long time or if a team wins a long-awaited trophy.
The next factor is dramatic moments. It measures the number of points where players reach their limits and show impressive results. For example, scoring 6 points to turn the game around is definitely dramatic.
Finally, there is global recognition. If hundreds of thousands of people watched the game and it was regularly featured in the news, we would consider it recognizable and more important.
Top 10 Cricket Matches
With the judging criteria in mind, it is time to get started. Let us look at the 10 Indian cricket matches considered the most impactful.
India vs Sri Lanka
The first match, and probably the best of all, was a legendary encounter between India and Sri Lanka, which took place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 2011, during the World Cup final.
MS Dhoni was the most productive player of the match. This Indian legend scored 91 points, which were achieved thanks to his quick and intelligent plays. However, Dhoni was not the top scorer for the team. It was Gautam Gambhir, a left-handed batsman from Delhi, who scored 97 points.
And what about Sri Lanka? Their players’ scores were more volatile: Mahela Jayawardene (right-handed batsman) scored 103, while his next closest was Kumar Sangakkara with just 48 points.
The match ended with a score of 274/6 – 277/4, with India taking the lead. It was India’s second World Cup victory, making them only the third team in history to win a title more than once (the other teams being Australia and West Indies).
This match left a great legacy, mainly because it was the first time two Asian teams met in an ODI World Cup final, and India won.
India vs Australia
In March 2001, a truly unique match between India and Australia was held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Due to the excellent performance of both teams, the competition was extended to five days.
During the hours of play, VVS Laxman (India’s top-order attacking batsman) scored 281 runs, becoming the MVP of this match. Rahul Dravid (player of the same role) was one of the two best players, scoring 180 runs in India’s second innings.
Five days into the competition, India won the match by 171 runs, forcing them to repeat the feat, creating a unique scenario for the match, which occurred for only the third time since Test cricket began in 1877.
The Australian team, considered the best in the world, has won 16 Tests in a row. India snapped that streak, making this arguably India’s best cricket match.
Australia vs England
Once again, Eden Gardens in Kolkata is hosting a competition. This time, it is a rivalry between Australia and England, which took place during the 1987 World Cup final (also known as the Reliance Cricket World Cup final).
The match was a close one as both teams were batting for their first World Cup trophy. Among all the competitors, Bill Athey (England’s top-order batsman) was the best player with over 58 points. The next best punters were Mike Veletta (45 points) and Allan Lamb (45 points).
The match was completed within one day. Australia won by 7 runs and claimed its first world title.
The 1987 World Cup was the first to be held outside England. It was also the first World Cup to be played in a 50-overs format and the first to be held outside Lord’s Stadium. The combination of these innovations and the expectation of an intense match attracted between 70,000 and 90,000 spectators, making it one of the most watched matches of its decade.
India vs West Indies
This match between India and West Indies, which was played as part of a third Test, was of no significance in terms of the result. However, it was a spectacle that we rarely see in sports.
The competition was held at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Darren Bravo (West Indies frontline batsman) was undoubtedly the man of the match with 166 points.
Ravichandran Ashwin was right behind him. His precise batting gave his team 103 points, allowing India to claim victory.
The second innings was crucial in this match as the visitors set a target of 243 for the Indians.
As a result, the match culminated in a thrilling draw as India won the series 2-0.
India vs South Africa
In 1993, India and South Africa met in the semi-final of the Hero Cup, which was held at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. This match is known for the ferocious performance of its players.
Captain Mohammad Azharuddi scored almost half of his team’s runs, saving India from a losing situation. Pravin Amre was the next best Indian player. He scored 48 points, which was a huge contribution to his team’s victory.
This match became India’s most famous limited overs victory. They defended 195 against a capable South African team and advanced to the final of the Hero Cup.
As a result, India beat West Indies in the final and lifted a trophy. Interestingly, Mohammad Azharuddin, who was the best cricketer in the world at that time, became the MVP of the event and the player who scored the most runs, which is a credit to his performance in the match between India and South Africa.
India vs England
Now, let’s take a look at a match with one of the most remarkable comebacks in cricket history. It was a match between India and England that took place in 2002 as part of the ODI competition at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The first player to shine in this match was Marcus Trescothic: with a 95 off 80 balls, he gave his team a solid start against India. He was dismissed in time by Harbhajan Singh. He achieved this by scoring 5 wickets in the game.
On the other hand, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly were the MVPs with 45 and 60 points respectively, which laid a solid foundation for India’s victory.
The entire match was like a seesaw. India was just 100 runs away from securing victory with 8 wickets remaining. When they were 20 overs into the chase, England came back. As a result, a rivalry ended with scores of 325/5 and 326/8, where India won by 2 wickets (with 3 balls remaining). It was a magnificent victory by 5 runs.
England vs South Africa
This match is one of the most recent on this list. It took place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 2016 and featured the battle between England and South Africa in the World T20 tournament.
During the first five overs, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock were South Africa’s MVPs, scoring 114 in the first nine overs of the competition. However, England were firmly in the lead
To win. With the strength of Joe Root and Jason Roy, a team managed to reach 50 in third place in the chase.
This match became memorable because of its 459 runs, which were scored in just 39.4 overs. Just imagine a team scoring 229 on the board in a T20. But what is even rarer is to see their opponents try to build up such a huge lead.
India vs Pakistan
The match between India and Pakistan in the Asian Test Championship held in 1999 has gone down in history thanks to Shoaib Akhtar’s legendary deflections that took place at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Javagal Srinath’s performance restricted Pakistan to 185 in the first innings. However, Team India could not realise this achievement as they led by just 38 runs (despite Sadagoppan Ramesh’s 79 runs).
A true prodigy of this game was Saeed Anwar. This left-handed batsman from Pakistan scored 60% of his team’s runs (188 pts). However, Ramesh and Laxman soon added over 100 for the first wicket, making it look like India was on the verge of winning this match. Sachin and Dravid thought otherwise. They allowed Pakistan to pull away from India in terms of scoring and win a match by 46 runs, making this contest arguably the best match in the history of cricket held in India.
West Indies vs England
We are back in Kolkata to watch the match between West Indies and England, held in a World T20 tournament. The best players on the English side were Joe Root, Jos Buttler and David Willey. They dragged England to 155. On the West Indies side, Marlon Samuels was an obvious leader, scoring over 85 runs.
Marlon Samuels took the lead for the West Indies team, scoring 85. Carlos Brathwaite and Dwayne Bravo, who scored 34 and 25, were the other two important players of this team. The West Indies team won this clash. The legacy of the match is its unexpected ending and the fact that all Indian cricket fans were on the side of the West Indies.
India vs Australia
The last match on this list is once again between India and Australia. This time, the teams met in the 2007 ODI.
One of the most influential players in this match was Murali Kartik (Indian bowler). He took his career-best haul by scoring six wickets for just 27 runs, taking Australia from 117 for 2 in the 20th over to being bowled out for 193.
For Australia, Andrew Symonds is the top scorer for his team (107 points). Under his leadership, Adam Gilchrist scored 51, while Ricky Ponting scored 49.
Australia won the match with a score of 317/8. This match was remembered because the match was quite even in terms of points, which created a huge suspense for the victory. Moreover, Murali Kartik’s performance stood out as he overcame the pressure of Harbhajan Singh.
Conclusion
Which of these is the number one cricket game in the world, in your opinion? Fans have very diverse opinions. However, the statistics and general information presented above will help you decide which is your favorite cricket game that takes place in India. But maybe your favorite game hasn’t been played yet.