Madan Lal is remembered for his heroics in the 1983 World Cup that helped India win the tournament and script history. He was an integral part of the Indian ODI team in the decade of the 80s but unfortunately, his Test career often goes unnoticed. He could not get the same success in Test cricket that he got in ODI cricket but there were still some outstanding performances from him in the longest format. Let us take a look at Madan Lal’s top 3 performances for India in Test cricket.
1. 5/23 vs England, 1981
1981 was the comeback year for Madan Lal. This is one of the performances that impressed everyone on his return. India played the first match of the 6-match Test series against England in Wankhede. In the second innings, India were defending 241 runs. The opening spell from Madan Lal and Kapil Dev put the visitors on the back foot. Madan Lal caught Geoffrey Boycott right in front of the stumps. He added more wickets to his tally later in the innings when he cleaned up the lower order to wrap up the English run chase for 102 runs. India won the match by 138 runs to take the lead in the series.
2. 5/85 vs England, 1981
Here is another memorable bowling spell from Madan Lal in the same series against England in 1981. Both teams reached Delhi for the third Test of the series. In the first innings, England batted brilliantly as they declared with 476 runs in their account. The Indian bowlers could not get much success but Madan Lal stood apart with a five-wicket haul to boost his credentials. He dismissed the centurion Chris Tavare, Ian Botham, David Gower, Mike Gatting, and Bob Taylor to complete his spell.
3. 5/72 vs Australia, 1977
A five-wicket haul against Australia in their backyard must have felt special to the Indian speedster. Madan Lal took these 5 wickets in the second innings when the match was hanging in the balance. In his initial spell, the fast bowler picked up a couple of wickets as he dismissed the Aussie openers. He came back at the tail end of the second innings to add three more wickets to his tally. Courtesy of this bowling performance India restricted Australia to 327 runs which kept India in the contest. However, unfortunately, the visitors lost the match agonizingly by 16 runs.
Also read: Rangana Herath’s top 3 performances in Test Cricket