India's Big Win: 2008 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dhoni-Ponting

The first test match in the 2008 Border-Gavaskar trophy was in Bangalore and the match ended in a draw. During the match, the Indian captain Kumble sustained a shoulder injury and as a result, he could not play the second test. The second test was at Mohali from 17th October to 21st October 2008, and India was captained by MS Dhoni and Australia by Ricky Ponting.

Answer: Siddle

The test match saw the debut of two players, fast bowler Peter Siddle for Australia, and leg spinner Amit Mishra for India.

Answer: True

Sachin Tendulkar had to his credit many records, including being the highest run scorer in one day cricket. But in test cricket, he had been overtaken by Brian Lara who was the highest run scorer in test cricket. On Day 1 of the 2nd test match at Mohali, Tendulkar became the highest run scorer in test cricket, and he also became the first cricketer to score 12,000 runs in test cricket.

Answer: Ganguly

Saurav Ganguly was the top scorer for India in the first innings. Winning the toss, India opted to bat first and was all out for 469. The top scorer was Saurav Ganguly who scored a century and scored 102. The next highest scorer was the maestro Tendulkar with 88.

Answer: Watson

In response to India's 469, Australia was bowled out for 268. Similar to the first test, Hayden was again out in the first over off Zaheer's bowling. All-rounder Shane Watson was the top scorer for Australia with 78. Next was Michael Hussey who scored 54.

Answer: Amit Mishra

The chief wrecker of the Australian innings was debutant leg spinner Amit Mishra, who impressed everyone with his leg spin bowling. His bowling analysis read 26.4-8-71-5 (26.4 overs, 8 maidens, 5 wickets for 71 runs). This performance put him in an exclusive club of bowlers who took 5 wickets in their debut.

Answer: Gambhir

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir scored his first test century in Indian soil when he scored 104. Sehwag was close behind with 90 and captain Dhoni scored a breezy unbeaten 68. India who had a first innings lead of 201, did not enforce the follow-on and opted to bat and declared at 314/3, setting a target of 516 for Australia to win in over 4 sessions.

Answer: 195

Set a target of 516 to win, Australia was bowled out for 195 in their second innings. The margin of victory was 320 runs which was one of the biggest every victory margins for India. Michael Clarke top scored for Australia with 69 and for India, Zaheer and Harbhajan took 3 wickets each.

Answer: White

Australia's domination of world cricket was helped by the presence of two all-time great bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. The retirement of these bowlers created a vacuum in the bowling attack, especially in the spinning department. MacGill's retirement created a situation where leg spinner Cameron White remained the main spinner for Australia.

The Indian batsmen were able to handle White without much problems and this was one of the main reasons for Australia's loss.

Answer: Dhoni

India's captain for the match, Mahender Singh Dhoni was adjudicated as the Man of the Match for the 2nd test.