Which was a bigger cricketing accomplishment: The 1983 WC win or the 01 series against AUS?

[MundaPakistani]

2001 series for mine When AUS came to IND in 2001 they had won a record number of test wins in a row, this included a series sweep against W Akram’s Pakistan who at the time were a massive force in cricket and a sweep against the Indians themselves. The captain of the Aussie side now considered IND as the “final frontier†and after about 7 days of cricket in the series it seemed as if Waugh’s men were well on their way of conquering the final frontier and engraving their names as the members of the greatest team to ever play this great game! IND after following on were 3 down with still over 150 runs behind so to come back to not only win the test match but also the series against one of the finest teams ever was nothing short of an astonishing accomplishment. So sorry Kapil paa jee your world cup win might have brought great joy to the common people but in terms of pure cricketing accomplishment Dada’s men outdid you.

[varun]

Hmmm.. tough one. 1983 going by the odds that were against us going up against WI should be up there. The Australian side was playing in our backyard, and that helped.

[Zap_Brannigan]

Easily the 83 WC for me. 1.WI had won the all the WC before that and were the undisputed kings of cricket at the time. Same with Aus in 2001. 2. We were total underdogs in both 83 and 2001. 3. History was against us in 83 but not in 2001.(we were never defeated by aus in ind since 1960s/70s) But the 2 biggest reasons that set things apart - The WC win changed Indian cricket and made it the most popular sports in the country and probably made Indians more fanatic about it than their religion. And the comparison with the previous editions of the tournaments. We barely won anything in 75 and 79 WCs. But India won against Aus in Ind in 98 and 96 fairly easily. One was against history and the best team of that era, the other was only against the best team of that era.

[CC1981]

The Australian side didn't have the Mc-Warne combo, and that helped.

??? In 2001 series (best of 3 tests), McGrath had 17 wickets from 3 tests @ 15.35, Warney had 10 wickets from 3 tests @ 50.50

[CC1981]

I agree btw that 83 world cup win was bigger than 01 win vs OZ. But I'd happily trade the 83 world cup win for a test series win IN Australia.

[Cricketics]

well i feel both of them have been gr8 accomplishment.. 01 series was gr8, we won against aus which had winning streak of 13 test matches and we were alredy 1-0 down in the series, we drew the series first, and then went on to win the final test and win the series.. 83 was amazing.. we were the first team after windies to ever hold the world cup.. both moments have been gr8.. and perhapz equally rated by me.. one was a test series, the other was the biggest odi trmnt of its time.. anywayz, after all a series win is a series win, and world cup is world cup win, world is the key word here, u are the champs of the world..

[MundaPakistani]

It's worth considering the WAY IND won the 01 series e.g ENG have won a lot of Ashes series but the one in 1981 stands out because of the way they fought back to win that particular series.

[Lurker]

Tough question this one MP. 1983 win was, and still is, the only time India were World Champions in cricket. Admittedly at the time West Indies were the best team in the world but India beat them once in league games and then triumphed in finals to take the cup. For 4 years after that an Indian fan had the bragging rights of the World Champion. I can still recall India going into the 1987 WC as one of the favorites(along with West Indies and Pakistan). Indeed this "arrogance" perhaps did us in as we lost to England in the semi-finals. India should have won that game but thanks to Gooch's sweeping skills and Kapil's largesse when it came to leadership(he refused to put a sweeper to combat Gooch's sweeping) did us in. 2001 win was greatly satisfying too. You are quite correct in suggesting how winning in India meant a whole lot to Australia, and Waugh had even gone onto suggest it as "final frontier". The series did look like it was going Aussies way as they streamrolled India in first test. But then VVS and Dravid pulled a magic and India took the second one. It was almost like a tiger had scented blood and India won the IIIrd test in a humdinger too. Even the LOI games were cracking and if I am not mistaken India lost 2-3 eventually. There was not a single dull moment in that series. For a purist 2001 would come as a better triumph since Test cricket is the real cricket(and I don't doubt it) but overall 1983 WC triumph ranks much ahead for me. xxx

[Guest BossBhai]

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[varun]

??? In 2001 series (best of 3 tests), McGrath had 17 wickets from 3 tests @ 15.35, Warney had 10 wickets from 3 tests @ 50.50

Dude you jump the gun too quick.. check my post again :tounge_smile:

[kumble_rocks]

Obviously , 1983 WC.

[Ram]

83... there is not even scope for debate here...

[King]

83 for me too. India were put on cricket map big time after the 1983 and the 1985 Benson and Hedges win. India well and truly was thought of as a top team then. I was pretty young but still remember reading a lot of reports praising the new Indian heroes in this part of the world. That was a first timer for me. India series against Australia 2001 drew a lot of attention here too. In fact I rang the radio sport and gave them the dd online website where one can watch the series online. John Wright had been recently appointed coach too so the interest in this part of the world for this series was double folded. Still I think the world cup 83 followed by the 85 benson and hedges win made the rest of the world sit up and notice the then team.

[Predator_05]

'01 series. In ODI's, there is always that element of luck involved. Not the case in Test cricket though; where you have you EARN every run and wicket and play better over the course of 5 days. It's obvious which one has the greater level of difficulty. Luck can only work to your advantage in a session or a day at best. Hence why i rate that Test series win as a greater accomplishment. As far as the odds are concerned, India didn't have a prayer going into that series. AUS beat IND within 3 days at Mumbai and were on a 16 match winning streak. IND were FOLLOWING ON in the 2nd test, and managed to turn the entire match around. How often has that happened in the history of Indian cricket ? Never. Not to the mention the Chennai test, which is an absolute CLASSIC. That entire series was like a resurrection; IND waking up from the dead and rising above what appeared to be a far greater opponent. As close to a modern-day David and Goliath story as you will ever find.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Predator_05]

Well said Predz ... and to make matters worse we had to make do without the services of Srinath and Kumble ... Harbhajan Singh had a Test match experience which was a grand total of 8 matches ... the names of some other pie chuckers that were drafted in to make the numbers ... make me shudder even now...

Yeah, India's bowling attack in those three tests was PATHETIC. Arguably the worst bowling attack i've seen. It was nothing more than a one man gang with Harbhajan Singh being that one man. 22 year old Zaheer Khan, Prasad and a 20 year old Agarkar as the "pacers"; Kulkarni, Bahutule, Sanghvi, Raju (all of them did f*ck all) as the 2nd spinners. Ganguly even OPENED the bowling attack alongside Zaheer in the Chennai test ! Srinath bowled in the Mumbai massacre, but didn't make the next two. Only Harbhajan played in all three. Now could you EVER have imagined a bowling "attack" (i use the term very loosely) comprised of THOSE bowlers above stopping the GREATEST Test side of it's generation, that too when they were on a 16 match winning streak ? Answer; No f*cking way

[Dirty_South]

'83 all da freakin way

[Gambit]

MP, that is a very difficult choice you've presented us with! Ind-Aus '01 is hands down the greatest test series I have watched in my life(Ashes '05 a very close second). The awesome Aussies had won 15 tests in a row before they came to India and won their 16th quite easily. In fact, Gilly was yet to lose/draw his first test since his debut in 1999! What happened after day 2(Aus 445,Ind 127/9) still seems fictional. People talk about character in the 2nd test but we showed great resolve in the 3rd test where after the 1st days play, Australia were 326/3! They were running away with the game and the series but from the 2nd day, we got fought like champions and bowled them out for 389. Rest of course is history. I was not even a year old when we won the world cup but it still swells me up with pride because that was the turning point in Indian Cricket. A team of no hopers gave it's fans even less hopes after being bowled out for 183 against a team of absolute giants. To bowl THAT batting lineup for 140 in a world cup final with one genuine world class pacers and 3 other dibbly dobbly seamers was an awesome feat. Windian greats who played that day are still quite badly scarred by this loss. They haven't even made a final since that day! A truly red letter day for Indian Cricket and Kapil's devils. In summary, I am sitting on the fence here.

[King]

MP, that is a very difficult choice you've presented us with! Ind-Aus '01 is hands down the greatest test series I have watched in my life(Ashes '05 a very close second).

I think the Ashes'05 and the WI vs Aus 1999 test series were as great as the Ind Aus 01 test series. Irony is that Aussies were involved in all these test series'

[MundaPakistani]

Good posts guys! Totally agree with Predz

I think the Ashes'05 and the WI vs Aus 1999 test series were as great as the Ind Aus 01 test series. Irony is that Aussies were involved in all these test series'

The 1988 PAK WI series has to be right up there! The sheer will power of Imran and Javed had put PAK in a position to win the series 2 nil but that final test match was quite a heartbreaker.