Wisden Asia Cricket just released the list of top 25 innings ever played by Indians in Test Match Cricket. Obviously, the top spot was a no-brainer. Very Very Special Laxman's 281 was an overwhelming winner winning more than double the number of points than the second best, which was Rahul Dravid's 233 at Adelaide, by itself, an absolutely majestic performance. Surprisingly Laxman's other grand efforts like the 148 at Adelaide and 178 at Sydney do not feature in the top 25. Sydney, admittedly ended in a draw but the sheer quality of strokeplay in that innings should have borne some weight. Considering that several innings in lost causes have been included, that particular innings deserved mention.
4 of Dravid's masterpieces feature in the top 20, 3 of them in the top 13. Sehwag's 309 is up there, as are Vishwanath's greatest innings. 3 of Gavaskar's innings feature in the top 10; Tendulkar has 3 in the list; 2 of which were losing efforts. Azharuddin's magnificent 121 at Lord's finds a mention right at the bottom; but so many of his great ventures at Eden Gardens do not find favour at all - (what about the brilliant 182 against England ? what about the 3 centuries in 4 matches against South Africa in 1996-97 ? )
All in all, a fairly good list with the top few items quite obvious; but plenty to contemplate towards the middle and bottom
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