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Cricket Players'They made their way out with smug looks on their faces': Gilchrist recalls scenes after India's epic 2001 series win
Today marks 20 years since India famously beat Australia 2-1 in the epic 2001 Test series at home.
March 22 remains a significant day in the history of India cricket. Exactly 20 years ago today, India had beaten Australia famously in an epic three-Test series at home under Sourav Ganguly. Arguably the greatest Test series India have been involved in - also believed by many to be the series that changed the landscape of Indian cricket - India edged Australia by two wickets in a thriller in the final Test in Chennai to take the series 2-1.
Former Australia wicketkeeper batsman Adam Gilchrist, who was part of the Australia squad, recalled what transpired after the second Test in Kolkata – the match of epic proportions where VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh's combined genius helped India with a historic win and halt Australia's undefeated streak at 16 matches. 20 years later, Gilchrist reveals the euphoric scenes after India had beaten Australia by 171 runs to level the series 1-1 following the 10-wicket hammering in Mumbai.
"I remember sitting after the game in Calcutta and both teams had to fly down to Chennai and we wound up in the change rooms and it was charter flight that both teams were on, and we were left sitting there waiting and waiting and waiting whilst the Indians celebrated back at the ground. They finally made their way out and, understandably, with pretty smug looks on their faces," Gilchrist told foxsports.com.au.
As the two teams flew to Chennai with everything to play for, Gilchrist, who sizzled with a century in the Mumbai Test, endured forgettable outings in the remaining four innings, scoring a pair of ducks in Kolkata and registering scores of 1 and 1 in Chennai. The former Australia wicketkeeper reveals how the defeat in Kolkata had an impact mentally on him, and being pushed to the wall early, with India taking a first-innings lead of 110 runs in Chennai served as another blow.
"I’m not sure we did recover. I certainly wasn’t physically or mentally ready to suit up again. And it was a super quick turnaround and before we knew it we were in another dog fight. India just played so well and Harbhajan (with 15 wickets in the match) just controlled the game and that was that," Gilchrist explained.
