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A Win By The Barest Of Margins: Check India's Narrowest Victories By Runs In Tests

Arnav Chopra

India's Smallest Wins Over The Years (Source: @ICC, @BCCI/X.com)India's Smallest Wins Over The Years (Source: @ICC, @BCCI/X.com)

A game that will be long remembered in history as one of the finest ever, India and England played a thriller at the Oval. The fifth Test of the just-concluded England-India series turned out to be one of the finest games ever in Test cricketing history.

Despite having the upper hand for most of the game during their batting innings, India clawed back and snatched what they deserved, as they earned a victory by a bare margin of six runs. Therefore, in this article, we will look at India's narrowest wins in Test cricket in terms of runs.

5. By 37 Runs Vs West Indies, Port Of Spain, 2002

India's fifth win by the lowest margin was against the West Indies back in 2002, in the second Test that was played at the Port of Spain. India batted first and scored 339, and in their first innings, the Caribbean could only manage 245.

Following which, India were then out for 218, and requiring 313 runs for the win, India knocked the West Indies side over for 275, with Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra picking up three wickets apeice as India won by 37 runs to complete a comprehensive victory, where VVS Laxman was awarded player of the match for his half-century score in both the innings, scoring 69* and 74, respectively.

4. By 31 Runs Vs Australia, Adelaide, 2018

At number four is India's thrilling win over Australia back in 2018 at Adelaide, where, after batting first, India scored 250 on the back of Cheteshwar Pujara's 123, while Australia fought back hard and scored 235 to match India. In return, India scored 307 and set Australia a target of 323 in the end, where the home side could reach as far as 291 but lost the game by a margin of just 31 runs as India earned a crucial victory in their memorable 2018 series.

Cheteshwar Pujara was awarded player of the match for scoring 123 and 71, respectively, while Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammad Shami picked three wickets each in the final innings to clean up Australia and lead India to victory.

3. By 28 Runs Vs England, Kolkata, 1972

At number three is India's another crucial victory against England, way back in 1972 at the iconic Eden Gardens. India, in that game, batted first and scored 210 on the back of Farokh Engineer's 75. In return, the English were knocked out for 174.

Following which, India couldn't bat as well as they did in the first innings and were cleaned up for 155, as England only had 192 runs to chase. Unfortunately for England, Indian bowler Bishan Singh Bedi picked the five-wicket haul, while Bhagwat Chandrasekhar grabbed four wickets to his name to clean England up for 163, handing India a victory by 28 runs in this iconic series.

2. By 13 Runs Vs Australia, Wankhede, 2004

Now moving to the number two spot, India played one of the finest thrillers against Australia back in the year 2004 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Again, India batted first and were rocked by the Australian bowling attack as they were cleaned up for just 104. It was the fourth Test of the series, and India were already down and out with Australia leading by a margin of 2-0.

Desperate for a win, India, after scoring 104 in the first inning, conceded 203 in Australia's first innings of this game. In reply, India batted decently and scored 205 to set Australia a target of a bare 107 runs in the end.

However, the game turned around suddenly as Harbhajan Singh picked a five-wicket haul to rock the Australian batting order for just 93, as India earned a victory by just 13 runs in the end, to grab a solitary win in the series. Murali Karthik was awarded player of the match, as he bowled brilliantly to pick four wickets and three wickets in the first and second innings, respectively.

1. By 6 Runs Vs England, The Oval, 2025*

Now, finally, moving to the number one spot on the list is between India and England in the recently concluded high-octane series, where this game was played at the Oval in the year 2025. India batted first and scored 224, while England, in the first inning, scored 247, gaining a 23-run lead. India came back strong in the second innings to post 396 runs on the board. The series was already in favour of the English side, as they had a 2-1 lead, and a loss or draw in this game would rule India out of the series.

However, the Indian side came back hard, in fact, very hard, at the English. After Joe Root and Harry Brook scored 105 and 111, respectively, to power England closer to the total, but were denied the victory by the pace duo of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, who picked five and four wickets, respectively, in the final innings, as England were bowled out for 367. Falling agonizingly short of the target of 374 runs in the end, as India snapped a victory by six runs, whereas the series ended in a draw with the scoreline being 2-2.

Mohammed Siraj was awarded player of the match, as he picked a total of nine wickets in the match, while India's grit and determination turned out to be fruitful because, at one stage, the game looked out of their grasp.