The crowd at Eden Gardens helped us win the 2001 Kolkata Test: Rahul Dravid

Former Indian batsman Rahul Dravid gave credit to Eden Gardens crowd and said that it helped Team India in their iconic win against Australia in 2001. In that match, India came from behind and snatched the victory from the jaws of the mighty visitors.

In 2001, Australia was rated as one of the best sides in international cricket. They had a star-studded line up with the likes of Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting. It used to be an arduous task for any country to defeat them in any format.

However, Sourav Ganguly and Co managed to pull off an amazing victory in the second match of three-match Test series at Eden Gardens. The triumph still holds a special place in the heart of every Indian fan.

Rahul Dravid says he can still feel that iconic match

Talking about that historic game, Dravid said that all credit should be given to the spectators that were present in the stadium at that time. Dravid said that on the final day, Harbhajan Singh was taking wickets and the crowd was going berserk on every delivery. According to Dravid, the match still gives him goosebumps.

“The atmosphere on the last day, after tea, the time when we were trying to take wickets. Harbhajan Singh was bowling and wickets were falling. The support from the crowd was incredible. The crowd at Eden Gardens helped us win the 2001 Kolkata Test. That support, encouragement and cheer after every ball, I remember it till now and I can still feel that” he said on Star Sports‘ Kolkata 2001-Dravid & Laxman Special show.

Coming onto the historic game, the visitors won the toss and scored 445 runs batting in their first innings. However, India were dismissed at the score of 171 runs. Afterwards, the Aussies enforced the follow-on and by the end of Day 3, India were at the score of 254 runs for the loss of four wickets.

On Day 4, the match began drifting away from the hands of visitors. But Rahul Dravid (180) and VVS Laxman (281) stitched an amazing partnership of 376 runs and stayed at the crease for the whole day. In the end, Sourav Ganguly declared the innings at a score of 657 runs.

And, on the final day, Australia’s batting order collapsed in front of Indian spinners due to which the visitors had to face an annihilating defeat by a margin of 171 runs.