25 Years of Eden Gardens 2001 Test: From Harbhajan’s hat-trick to Laxman’s 281, 5 viral facts
March 14 marks 25 years to the day when two Indian batters batted throughout the day and broke Australia’s resistance during the fourth day of the famous Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Check five lesser-known facts about this historic Test match.
3rd Follow-on win in Test history
India created history during the 2001 Kolkata Test by beating Australia by 171 runs and becoming only the third team to win a Test match after being asked to follow on. Ironically, on all three occasions (1894, 1981 and 2001), Australia was on the losing side.
India’s first-ever Test hat-trick
While most fans remember this match for the mammoth 376-run stand between VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, some also remember a young Harbhajan Singh picking a Test hat-trick in the first innings, dismissing Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne off successive deliveries, and becoming the first Indian ever to achieve this feat.
Laxman’s marathon 281
VVS Laxman announced himself on the big stage after hammering a mammoth 281 in the second innings, which was also the highest Indian score in a Test before Virender Sehwag broke it a couple of years later in Multan. Laxman surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s long-standing record of 236* to enter the history books.
376-Run Partnership
Laxman and Dravid stitched 376 runs for the fifth wicket in the second innings; most remarkably, they batted through the entire fourth day without being dismissed – a feat rarely seen in modern-era. The pair 335 runs in a single day of play, exhausting the might Aussies.
Ending AUS’s 16-match winning streak
Before this Kolkata Test, Steve Waugh’s Australian team had won 16 consecutive matches, a world record that stands to this day. India’s victory at Eden Gardens not only stopped their ‘invincible’ run but also shattered Australia's dream of conquering their "Final Frontier" (winning a series in India).
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