Kolkata win gave the team stability and continuity: Dravid recalls epic Test

Bengaluru: India’s epic victory in the second Test of the 2001 Border–Gavaskar series, exactly 25 years ago to this day, at Eden Gardens remains one of cricket’s greatest turnarounds. Australia arrived in Kolkata riding a record 16-Test winning streak and had already crushed India in Mumbai, leaving the hosts on the brink of a series defeat. When Australia piled up 445 and then dismissed India for just 171, enforcing the follow-on, the match seemed as good as over.

What followed over the next two days was the stuff of pure fantasy. VVS Laxman, promoted to No. 3, produced a sublime 281. At the other end stood Rahul Dravid, whose steely resolve complemented Laxman fluid grace. His 180 in the clutch helped India add 376 runs for a marathon stand that lasted almost two full days and dragged India from an imminent humiliation to stirring dominance.

By the time India declared at 657/7, the psychological balance had completely shifted. Australia, chasing under pressure, faced another hero: Harbhajan Singh. The off-spinner had already announced himself earlier in the match with a famous hat-trick, the first by an Indian in Test cricket. In the final innings he spun a web around Australia’s batters, claiming 6/73 and finishing the match with 13 wickets.

Australia were bowled out for 212, handing Sourav Ganguly & men a remarkable 171-run victory -- a seminal moment in the history of Indian cricket. From certain defeat, India had produced a miracle that revived the series and transformed the team’s belief. Kolkata 2001 was more than a win. It was a defining moment!

Dravid, by his own admission, was under a bit of pressure following a couple of low scores. Pushed to No. 6, from his customary No. 3, the right-hander produced an innings for the ages. Battling cramps, he raised an epic stand with Laxman that is now part of cricketing folklore. In a freewheeling chat with DHoS, Dravid recalls the seminal moment in the history of Indian cricket.    

Rahul, one of India's greatest Test wins, and you being one of the main architects of that win. How do you look back at it after 25 years?

It's been a long time. Of course, it's a really nice memory of your career and, obviously, it's nice that, in many ways, a lot of people who witnessed it or were following it remember it only because of the nature of the Test match, right? I mean, we came from behind against Australia, and from that perspective it's really nice to know that it's kind of part of people's memory and that it was an important win. It brings back some fond memories, but also it's been a long time, so you kind of move on and you have other things and other memories that also happened over the next 25 years.

What was the mindset of the team? India were coming off a loss in Mumbai and here they were forced to follow-on, then lost four quick wickets in the second innings. What happened after that was magical.

Obviously we were under a lot of pressure. You're playing an Australian team that has won 16 Tests in a row. They beat us in Mumbai. There was a lot of talk about the series, about how it was a final frontier for Australia. There was a lot of hype around it. They had outplayed us in Mumbai, and also for the first three days of that game in Kolkata. We weren't able to compete. So there was a certain amount of pressure and I think, in some ways, being so far behind in the game also helped because we were able to just focus on playing and not think too far ahead. And then I think once we got a partnership going, both of us could sort of feel that the pressure was on them. We could start feeling that it was quite hot and it was getting tougher and tougher for them on the field as well. So it gave us a chance to build on that partnership. I think both of us were involved really well on the last day and we got a lot of support from other people. We were able to win that Test match and the series. But I think the mindset, in a sense, was more like we just needed to compete against them and give them a good fight and show that we could compete. And then one thing led to another and, yeah, it was really a good partnership to be a part of.

Personally also, you had two or three low scores. Talk us through your mindset when you were asked to bat at No. 6 instead of No. 3. What was playing at the back of your mind and what clicked for you on that day?

I just think that my form coming into that particular innings was a little bit patchy. I had scored runs in the series before and even in domestic cricket. So, I was in good form, but for two or three innings I didn't really score as much as I would have liked. And a kind of pressure was building up. Then, of course, being asked to bat at six, I want to say I was fine with that. That was trying to put the pressure back on them because, no doubt, Laxman was batting really well at that point of time. So, the feeling was to allow him to continue to bat since he had batted really well in the first innings and let him go and put the pressure on them. And it worked. In some ways it gave me some time to go back and sit and reflect, sit outside and watch the game. And then I was able to come there and put that partnership together. Yes, there was a certain amount of pressure because we knew that if we had lost a wicket there, then there wasn't a lot of batting to follow. And we could have lost the game and the series. But at that point of time you're really trying to focus on your skills and trying to do your job well. And yeah, while I was a little disappointed with how much I had scored, I didn't think that I was in that bad form. Actually, in terms of form, I felt like I was playing quite well. But in terms of the scores, they didn't come. So once I got into the partnership and once I started settling in, I definitely wanted to make it count. I wanted to bat for a long time. And I saw that if I stayed there and made a big score, it would actually give us a chance to win.

Indians celebrate after dismissing Australia

That is why that animated reaction after the century?

Honestly, it had nothing to do with anything. It's just that, in some ways, I felt that the team was being put under a lot of pressure going into that game. And I think, in a lot of ways, everyone expected us to lose. So they were putting the team under quite a lot of pressure. For me, it was just, in some ways, a release of that kind of pressure, you know. But no, it wasn't directed towards anything in particular or anyone. It was more a thing of saying, "Hey, I think the team needs a little more support after just a few innings." People were kind of writing us off. And then it made sense. You're playing against such a strong Australian team and they're dominating the series. So it only felt natural for people to write us off. And I was really happy that I was able to work with Laxman and Harbhajan and the rest of the team, turn the Test match around, and turn the series around as well.

What is your take on Laxman's knock on that day? You have shared many partnerships with him both for South Zone and India, but how was it to watch him from the other end?

Laxman was a really good player to bat with. Personally, I got along well with him. I played junior cricket with him and we played a lot of cricket for South Zone. We had already shared some big partnerships together in domestic cricket. So we knew each other really well and I think we got along quite well. Also, I just enjoyed watching him bat. I think he was a really fine player and a really good player of all kinds of bowling. He used to play all around the wicket and had a very calm personality as well. He didn't get frazzled by too many things. And you knew he could score big. He had the propensity to score big hundreds and bat for long periods of time. So if you batted well and kept your end of the bargain, you could really build a very big partnership with him because he was very unlikely to throw it away. And he had the skills to bat for a long period of time. So I always enjoyed watching him bat. He was a very nice, lovely player to watch, a very stylish player but also very effective, which made it fun to watch. And I always enjoyed batting with him and enjoyed my partnerships with him.

Laxman was battling back spasms, you were coming off a fever, and then to play like that in those harsh weather conditions... How does that threshold to bear physical pain go up?

To be honest, I kind of got used to playing long innings because I was always someone who loved batting and loved the contest. Loved competing. So I kind of got used to playing long innings and I loved batting. For me, the mental side of it, to be honest, was not that difficult because I had good routines. I knew how to construct long innings. For me, the physicality of that day was a bit difficult because I was coming into that Test having a fever and had not actually practised at all in the lead-up to that particular game. I also used to sweat a lot, and they were very hot days as well. You lose a lot of fluid and you're cramping. In fact, at the end of the evening I needed drips to recover. But when you're in that kind of position you're pushing yourself because you see that you're playing for your country, you're playing for your team, you're in the middle of a really good partnership. So you're pushing yourself both mentally and physically. Also, you're looking at the Australians and you're seeing that they're also struggling in the heat. In that sense it gives you motivation to keep going because you know that they're also finding it difficult. And the more you can keep them out there, the more pressure you're going to put on them, and the easier it's going to get for us.

This victory and the series win, coming soon after what was a very difficult time for Indian cricket, what did it mean to the team, the players of that era? How important was it at that point in time?

I think it firstly gave a lot of confidence to the team and belief that we could beat a team like Australia. It gave us a lot of belief in the quality we had. Also, in some ways, it allowed the team to settle down a little bit over the next few years and build on this success. I think there was a bit of stability and continuity over the next few years, with John Wright being able to continue as coach and Sourav as captain. And we were able to then have some success overseas and build on it and grow from this series. I think if we had lost then, you never know what would have happened. It's all conjecture, right? And I don't want to speculate on what might have happened. But I certainly think that the stability we were able to have, and the confidence we got from that particular Test win and the series win, helped us then do well in Australia later on and do well in Pakistan and start building on that success and continuing to do well. It also built a bit of stability in the team and allowed the team to stay together for a little bit longer. Because when you lose matches and series, at times there is a tendency to change things and teams can't have stability when there are losses.