Great Innings By Indian Batsmen That Ended In A Heartbreak

Cricket is a team game. I know you may heard this cliche a million times but the fact of the matter is, each and every word of that line has been proved to the hilt time and again. Yes, individual brilliance plays a huge role. But that amounts to nothing if he or she does not get the desired support from their teammates.

Take Ben Stokes whirlwind knock against Australia at Leeds in the 2019 Ashes for example. Would England have won, had Jack Leech not stuck around as Stokes unleashed his wrath on the Aussies. No! Time and again, we have seen brilliant innings by a batsman go in vain due to the paucity of support by his fellow batters.

And, that has happened a million times in Indian cricket. On this note, here’s a look at great innings by Indian batsmen that ended in a heartbreak:

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Yuvraj, 139 vs Australia, Sydney (2004)

A match that will forever be remembered for that Brobdingnagian six that Brett Lee hit off Laxmipathy Balaji when 7 runs were required off the last 2 deliveries to help Australia seal a nail-biting victory in the 2004 VB series at the SCG.

It’s a shame that the game is remembered for that one moment because it was a match where Yuvraj Singh had probably played one of the best ODI innings of his career. Coming into bat with India reeling at 3-80, the stylish southpaw shellacked the Aussies to the tune of a whirlwind 139 off 122 balls, and along with fellow centurion VVS Laxman [106] helped India post an imposing 4-296 in 50 overs.

That 139 by Yuvraj remained his highest individual score in ODI cricket for the next 13 years before he bettered it with a brilliant 150 against England in 2017.

Rohit Sharma, 150 vs South Africa, Kanpur (2015)

There have been quite a few Rohit Sharma hundreds- mostly against Australia- where his teammates let him down, resulting in a massive heartbreak. No innings encapsulated that feeling better than the first ODI in the 2015 series against South Africa.

Chasing 5-303 set by the Proteas, Rohit Sharma’s 150 off 133 balls- an innings which included 13 fours and as many as 6 sixes- took the Men in Blue on the cusp of victory. By the time he got out, the hosts just needed 35 runs off 23 deliveries and looked prime for a 1-0 lead. But a late collapse followed by a brilliant last over by rookie Kagiso Rabada where he went on to defend 11 runs against MS Dhoni, paved way for a heartbreak of epic proportions as the hosts fell short by five runs.

MS Dhoni, 113 vs Pakistan, Chennai (2012)

One of the most underrated innings by MS Dhoni has got to be the 113 he hit against Pakistan at the Chepauk in 2012. Coming into bat with his side reeling at 5-29, the Indian captain played a typical Dhoni knock where he first weathered the storm before going hammer and tongs in the death overs to lift the hosts from a precarious 5-29 to 6-227.

But, eventually, that did not prove to be enough as Pakistan, riding on the back of an unbeaten 101 by Nasir Jamshed went on to chase down the total in 48.1 overs.

Read: 5 Best Memories Of The Captain MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, 139 vs Australia, Mohali (2013)

Another MS Dhoni hundred that resulted in the heartbreak of epic proportions came during the 3rd match of the 2013 ODI series against Australia in Mohali. Batting first, the hosts were reeling at 5-148 at the halfway stage before MS Dhoni once again steered the ship via his calculated assault over the Aussies.

Dhoni smashed a brutal 139 off 121 balls, an innings which included 12 fours and 5 sixes. Dhoni was particularly severe on James Faulkner in the death overs but eventually, it was Faulkner, who had the last laugh.

Requiring 44 to win off the last 18 balls, Faulkner laid into Ishant Sharma, shellacking him for 30 runs in one overs to script a whirlwind win for his side and an equally nerve-wracking heartbreak for the hosts.

Read: 8 Instances When MS Dhoni Came Up with Savage Replies In Press-Conferences

Ravindra Jadeja, 77 vs New Zealand, ICC World Cup semi-final, Old Trafford (2019)

A heartbreak that ceases to go away, and more so for all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who played an innings of his life and almost took the Men in Blue past the finishing line in the 2019 World Cup semi-final.

India looked dead and buried at 6-92 when Jadeja came to the crease but the left-hander, courtesy a whirlwind counter-attack [77 off 59 balls] gave a flicker of hope to a billion Indians. But just as it looked that he and Dhoni would steer India through to an unlikely win, Trent Boult broke a billion hearts by dismissing Jadeja in the 48th over.

And, whatever hopes that India had after the dismissal of Jadeja were dead and buried when MS Dhoni was run-out in the very next over courtesy Martin Guptill.

Virender Sehwag, 195 vs Australia, 3rd Test, MCG (2003)

India vs Australia. Boxing Day Test. Melbourne Cricket Ground, 2003. The Men in Blue were riding high on momentum post their four-wicket win in Adelaide. A victory at the ‘G would have ensured their first-ever Test series Down Under. And, when Virender Sehwag was smashing the Aussies to all corners of the MCG on the first day, it looked like that dream could well turn into reality.

Sehwag massacred the Australian bowling attack to the tune of 195 but his dismissal at the fag end of the first day triggered a collapse that saw India lost its last six wickets for 55 runs.

Australia had got an opening that they were looking for, and the world champions never let India get back into the game. Ricky Ponting shellacked a brilliant 257, paving way for an eventual nine-wicket win for the hosts.

Sachin Tendulkar, 175 vs Australia, Hyderabad (2009)

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored a lot of ODI hundreds; most of them resulted in a win while a few of them resulted in a heartbreaking defeat. But no ODI hundred by Tendulkar can match the heartbreak that ensued post his whirlwind 175 in Hyderabad 2009.

It was almost an encore of Chennai 1999. Exit SRT and a collapse ensued. The only difference was the change in opposition, year and the format. In an innings where Sachin scaled Mount 17000 in 50-over cricket, the Master Blaster was looking well on his way to steer India past the finishing line in their pursuit of 351 before his dismissal triggered a horrible collapse.

The hosts lost their last three wickets for 15 runs which included two run-outs to eventually fell short by four runs.

Virat Kohli, 89* vs West Indies, T20 World Cup semi-final (2016)

Virat Kohli had experienced a heartbeat when his much-esteemed teammates let him down in the 2014 T20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka.

Two years later, he experienced the same again. This time in the semi-final against the West Indies on home soil. After singlehandedly taking his team to the semi-finals courtesy a whirlwind 82 against Australia, Virat followed it up with another swashbuckling knock of 89* (off 47 balls) against the Windies.

But, as it turned out, no-balls by Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya gave a twin life to Lendl Simmons, who cashed-in big time to deliver a knockout punch to the hosts and the image of Virat on his knees after Simmons hit the winning shot, encapsulated the heartbreak to the hilt.

Virat Kohli, 149 vs England, 1st Edgbaston (2018)

The 2018 Indian tour of England brought bitter-sweet memories for Virat Kohli. And the first Test in Birmingham was an apt illustration of the aforementioned fact.

In a Test where Virat successfully overcame his demons of the 2014 English tour courtesy a brilliant 149 and an equally substantial knock of 51, his fellow batsman once again let him down as India, in their pursuit of 194 fell short by 31 runs, giving England a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Sunil Gavaskar, 96 vs Pakistan, 5th Test Bangalore (1987)

On a rank turner masquerading as a Test match pitch, Little Master Sunil Gavaskar delivered a masterclass for the ages against Pakistan in the 5th Test of the 1987 series in Bangalore.

Chasing 221 in the fourth innings, Gavaskar blunted the Pakistani attack to the tune of 96 off 264 deliveries. But, as they say, cricket is a team game. And, the fact was testified to the hilt in that Test as India, despite Gavaskar’s 96 went on to lose the Test by 16 runs.

Gavaskar scored 96. The next best score was 26 by Mohammad Azharuddin, which pretty much sums up everything.

Virat Kohli, 141 vs Australia, Adelaide (2014)

Another Test match where Virat Kohli was let down by esteemed teammates. On a ground where Kohli had scored his maiden Test hundred in 2012, the Indian captain added two more to his tally in 2014.

After racking up 115 in the first innings, Kohli followed it with a masterly 141 off 175 balls in the succeeding innings to spearhead the run-chase of 362 on the final day.

Kohli and Vijay (99) stitched a brilliant 185-run-stand for the third wicket but Vijay’s dismissal triggered a horrible collapse that saw the Men in Blue lose their last eight wickets for 73 runs.

Sachin Tendulkar, 136 vs Pakistan, 1st Test Chennai (1999)

India vs Pakistan. Chennai. 1999. Sachin Tendulkar. Back-spasm. Pain, blood, and sweat. Masterly 136 and eventual heartbreak.

Needing 271 to win in the fourth innings, India looked dead and buried at 5-82 before Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, battling all the pain amidst searing Chennai heat and a relentless Pakistani attack, put on a clinic of the highest order. With 16 runs to get and Tendulkar still at the crease, an Indian win looked a foregone conclusion.

But Saqlain Mushtaq’s dismissal of the Master Blaster triggered a lower-order collapse which saw India lose their last three wickets for a mere four runs.