A Revsportz Exclusive by Boria Majumdar
As India marks 76 years of independence, it merits a very special look back into the history of the nation’s sport. As result, we at RevSportz decided to compile the greatest moments in the history of Indian sport in the 76 years between 1947 and 2023. In chronological order, this is the third and final part of the feature.
2001: Indian cricket emerges from the shadows of match-fixing and beats Australia in one of the best Test series of all time
VVS Laxman scored 281 at Eden Gardens, then the highest score by an Indian and Harbhajan Singh picked up a hattrick.
Facts before the start of the third day of the second Test:
Steve Waugh’s Australians had won 16 Test matches in a row.
India had been decimated in less than three days at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Australia put up a mammoth 445 in the first innings at Calcutta.
India were reeling at 128-8 at the end of the second day.
What followed still appears unbelievable. Andrew Stoddart in the 19th century, Mike Brearley in the 20th and Sourav Ganguly in the 21st century. Only twice before that had a team risen to erase the ignominy of following-on with a spectacular victory.
2001: Pullela Gopichand wins All England badminton title
Defeating Chen Hong of China in straight games, Gopichand emulated Prakash Padukone in becoming only the second Indian to win the coveted All England title. It started a sort of resurgence in Indian badminton, which Gopichand has steered in many ways. Though he faded out because of injury in the coming years, he continues to make the country proud by guiding a whole pool of champions like Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to the pinnacle of world badminton.
2002: A famous win at Headingley and the miracle of the Natwest Trophy
The new millennium had brought new promise and in the summer of 2002 in England, Indian cricket witnessed a new resurgence. Led by one of the best captains in Ganguly, two of the best batsmen of all time in Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, two world-class spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and fast bowlers who could make the batsman hop, India were suddenly a team to reckon with. As a result, the Indians could win a famous Test match at Headingley, following on from the Natwest Series victory in June-July 2002. The stars of the Natwest final were two youngsters, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif, who from a hopeless position of 146-5 propelled the team to victory, chasing down an imposing English total of 325.
2003: Pankaj Advani wins IBSF world snooker championship
Following on in the footsteps of Jones, Ferreira and Sethi, Pankaj Advani, just 18, won the world snooker championship in 2003 to make a statement to the world of cue sports. In 2005, he became the first player to win both the point and time formats in the IBSF World Billiards Championship, a feat he repeated in 2008. His finest hour came at the World professional Billiards championship in Leeds in 2009, where he defeated nine-time champion Mike Russell.
2004: Rajyavardhan Rathore wins silver at the Athens Olympics
All of India remembers watching with bated breath as Rajyavardhan Rathore shot his way to silver around 4pm IST at the Athens Olympics in August 2004, becoming in the process the first Indian to win a silver medal in an individual event. As Major Rathore punched his fists in the air after winning the silver at Athens, millions were euphoric. Within minutes, he became a national icon who had achieved the ultimate sporting glory.
2005: Sania Mirza becomes first Indian woman to win a WTA Tour title
She had already announced her arrival on the world stage by winning the junior Wimbledon girls doubles title in 2003 as the first Indian to do so. She followed it up with a spree of giant-killing acts and finally made the fourth round of the US Open in 2005, rising as high as 27 in the women’s singles rankings. Since then, she may have fallen prey to injury but her staggering 12 medals at multi-discipline competitions, multiple grand slam titles and a No. 1 doubles ranking will forever make Sania Mirza an Indian sporting legend.
2007: A young Indian team under MS Dhoni wins the inaugural T20 World Cup
For the inaugural T20 World Cup in September, the reins of a young Indian team were handed over to MS Dhoni. Under Dhoni, the Indians scripted history in South Africa by winning the tournament. Yuvraj Singh was the undisputed star with his six sixes against Stuart Broad and hurricane hitting against Australia. Victory over Pakistan in the final made it even sweeter.
2008: IPL inaugurated in India, a competition that transformed world cricket
The first edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), played to packed houses for 44 manic days between April 18 and June 1, was a resounding success by all yardsticks. Spread over seven weeks, the tournament was full of manic moments of drama, spectacle, ecstasy and agony. At the cost of giving favourite soaps and serials a miss, entire families were converted to the heady mix of cricket and entertainment on offer, a package unprecedented and one that has transformed the face of Indian cricket.
2008: Abhinav Bindra wins India’s first individual gold medal at the Olympics
Bindra created history with a brilliant 10.8 in his last shot. The shooting prodigy finally found the Holy Grail on August 11 at the 2008 Beijing Games. As the Indian tricolour was hoisted in Beijing, the poise and pride on the bespectacled shooter’s visage spoke to a billion Indians, becoming a leitmotif of gung-ho chest thumping in media commentaries and nationalist iconography.
2009: Saina Nehwal becomes the first Indian women to break into the world’s top 10, and wins the Indonesian Super Series
Teen sensation Saina Nehwal, currently one of India’s most loved and revered sportspersons, announced her arrival in 2009 by breaking into the top 10 of world badminton. She may have made the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics but it was in 2009 that she made a real splash by winning her first Super Series title. She has since won many a Super Series and also the bronze medal at the London Olympics of 2012.
2010: Athletes win 101 medals, with 38 golds, beating England for the first time
The Commonwealth Games of 2010 was India’s biggest sporting event ever. The athletes put on a stellar show, winning 101 medals with 38 golds, a display matched only recently when India won a very impressive 61 medals in Birmingham (2022) despite the absence of shooting and archery.
2011: India wins Cricket World Cup on home soil
The World Cup win at home was India’s second tryst with cricketing destiny after June 25, 1983, at Lords. For 28 years, the nation had waited for its moment. It finally arrived on home soil in the best possible manner. The final week of the cup was the best in India’s cricket history. India beat Australia in a superb quarter-final encounter in Ahmedabad thanks to the heroics of Yuvraj Singh, beat Pakistan at Mohali in the most-watched match of the tournament and finally won the trophy at the Wankhede courtesy unforgettable knocks from Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni. It was a night that did not end. Sachin Tendulkar’s dream had finally been fulfilled.
2012: Sachin Tendulkar scores his 100th international 100
On March 16, against Bangladesh in Mirpur, Dhaka, Tendulkar finally achieved the superhuman feat of scoring 100 centuries in international cricket. Suffice to say it is a record that is likely to stand forever. Another first in the history of cricket, this achievement together with the first one-day double-hundred, scored against South Africa in February 2010, elevated Sachin to the pedestal of the undisputed best player in the annals of the fifty-overs game.
2012: India wins six medals in London 2012
Mary Kom became the poster girl by winning bronze in the 51 kilogram boxing category, Sushil Kumar became the most decorated individual Olympian winning back-to-back Olympic medals, and Vijay Kumar won silver in the men’s 25metre rapid-fire pistol. Gagan Narang fulfilled his Olympic dream. Two silver medals and four bronze medals, six in all – India had doubled its Beijing 2008 medal count.
Also Read: Asiad Appu, 1983, and the Start of Vishy Anand’s Epic Chess Journey
2013: Winning the Champions Trophy under Dhoni
In the shadow of the IPL spot-fixing fiasco, this was India’s last ICC trophy win. It was a stellar effort to win the tournament in England, beating the hosts in the final.
2016: PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik spared India’s Olympic blushes with silver and bronze medals
Sindhu has since emerged as one of the greatest Indian athletes of all time with five World Championship medals and two Olympic medals. Sakshi made a stellar comeback in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
2016: India wins four medals at the Paralympics
Devendra Jhajharia won his second Paralympic gold and Deepa Malik brought home a historic silver, the first Indian woman to do so. India bettered this mark in 2021 with 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics.
2019: Dhoni’s stellar India career ended with defeat in the 2019 World Cup semi-final
India had topped the group stage of the tournament. But Dhoni’s run-out proved crucial in the last four, as New Zealand progressed to contest an epic final at Lord’s.
2021: Sindhu wins her second Olympic medal in Tokyo
Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain made sure it was a show of India’s girl power at the Olympics.
2021: Neeraj Chopra made history in the javelin throw
It was India’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics. Bindra finally had company. Chopra has since added a World Championship silver to his name in 2022.
2021: Indian hockey team wins its first Olympic medal in more than 40 years
In a thrilling bronze-medal play-off against Germany, India held on to a slender 4-3 lead and made history. It is considered a watershed moment in Indian men’s hockey.
2021: Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya made it two medals in wrestling
This made wrestling the most successful individual Indian Olympic sport. They also won gold medals in Birmingham to raise hopes for Paris 2024.
2022: Nikhat Zareen wins the World Championship in boxing
She took over the mantle from Mary Kom. Since then, she has also won the gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
2022: Indian men’s team make history by winning the Thomas Cup for the first time
They blanked Indonesia 3-0 in the final, and catapulted India to the forefront of world badminton.
2022: Medal Rush in Birmingham
With 61 medals from the Commonwealth Games, which included medals in the 3000metre steeplechase, one and two in triple jump, a singles medal in squash and gold in lawn bowls – the 2022 Commonwealth Games was India’s best by every yardstick. It was evidence of a resurgent India making significant strides in sport.
2023: Neeraj Chopra starts with Diamond League Win
He raised hopes for a golden double in Paris. He has won almost every major competition he has participated in since Tokyo.