The greatest upsets in Test cricket listed: From New Zealand in India to Bangladesh in Australia originally appeared on Cricket News.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Test cricket’s long history is dotted with staggering upsets, where underdogs toppled dominant sides against all odds.
- Bangladesh’s recent nine-wicket win in Darwin joins an elite list including Kolkata 2001 and the Gabba heist of 2021.
- Individual heroics, from Laxman’s 281 to Shamar Joseph’s fiery spell, repeatedly turned near-certain defeats into legend.
Top 7 of the greatest upsets in Test history
Test cricket has always had a soft spot for chaos. Every so often, a match rewrites the script entirely, and a side given no realistic chance walks away with a result nobody saw coming.
These aren’t just wins; they’re the kind of afternoons that get replayed in highlight reels decades later, the ones fans bring up unprompted at pubs and dinner tables.
What makes these upsets so gripping isn’t just the scoreline; it’s the human drama tucked inside them. A tailender batting through pain. A bowler nobody rated suddenly finding the spell of his life. A captain making a call that either backfires spectacularly or turns him into a genius overnight.
Bangladesh’s recent triumph over Australia in Darwin is the newest addition to this list, and it’s a reminder that the format’s capacity to surprise hasn’t dimmed one bit. A team playing their first Test on Australian soil in more than two decades walked in as rank outsiders and walked out having rewritten the history books.
Here’s a rundown of some of the format’s most jaw-dropping upsets, matches where form, ranking, and logic got thrown out the window.
India stun Australia after following on at Eden Gardens (2001)
Steve Waugh’s all-conquering Australian side rolled into Kolkata on the back of 16 straight Test wins, having already wrapped up the series opener in Mumbai inside three days. Australia piled on 445 and skittled India for just 171, and Waugh had little doubt before enforcing the follow-on.
However, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid produced one of cricket’s most extraordinary rearguard efforts, as they batted through the entire fourth day unbeaten and stitched together a stand of 376 runs before India declared at 657 for 7.
Then Harbhajan Singh took over the mantle. He was fresh off India’s first-ever Test hat-trick. He continued to weave his web of spin around the struggling Aussies and finished with figures of 6 for 73, bowling them out for 212 and handing India a 171-run win. It was only the third instance in Test history of a team winning after following on.
Bangladesh conquer Australia on their own turf (2026)
Bangladesh hadn’t played a Test in Australia in 23 years, and few gave them a prayer heading into Darwin. Australia batted first and were bowled out for a mere 198, their lowest total ever against Bangladesh, thanks to a career-best 6 for 55 from Hasan Mahmud.
However, Bangladesh responded emphatically, with Tanzid Hasan’s brilliant century and fifties from Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz building a commanding total of 426, a lead of 228.
Cameron Green’s fighting century in the second innings briefly kept Australia’s hopes alive, but Mehidy struck again with 5 for 66, leaving Bangladesh needing just 57 to win. They got there for the loss of a single wicket, sealing a historic nine-wicket victory on Australian soil for the first time.
MORE: Has Bangladesh ever won a Test series against Australia?
New Zealand’s stunning whitewash of India (2024)
India walked into this series with an 18-Test unbeaten home run stretching back 12 years, while New Zealand hadn’t tasted victory on Indian soil since 1988. That history counted for nothing.
In Bengaluru, Matt Henry and William O’Rourke bowled India out for a shocking 46, setting up an eight-wicket win. Pune brought more misery, with left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner claiming 13 wickets across the match to seal a 113-run victory. The final blow landed in Mumbai, where Ajaz Patel picked up 11 wickets to complete a 25-run win and a stunning 3-0 clean sweep.
It was India’s first-ever home whitewash in a series of three Tests or more.
MORE: Bangladesh script history in Darwin: Register first-ever Test win in Australia
Sri Lanka’s historic series win in South Africa (2019)
No Asian side had ever won a Test series in South Africa, and Sri Lanka arrived off the back of a series drubbing in Australia.
With their backs against the wall, they were set to face a pace battery of Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, and Vernon Philander. The result hung in the balance as South Africa set a target of 304 in Durban in the second innings. Sri Lanka slumped to 226 for 9 before Kusal Perera produced one of the greatest fourth-innings knocks the format has seen.
He scored an unbeaten 153, built around a remarkable 78-run last-wicket stand with No. 11 Vishwa Fernando. Buoyed by that heist, Sri Lanka travelled to Port Elizabeth and wrapped up an eight-wicket win, to complete a 2-0 sweep and etched their names into history as the first Asian team to win a Test series in South Africa.
Zimbabwe shock Pakistan on their own soil (1998)
Pakistan’s line-up in Peshawar read like a who’s who of the era’s greats. It included Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, against a young, inexperienced Zimbabwe side led by Alistair Campbell.
Pakistan posted 296, and Zimbabwe fought back with 238, anchored by a maiden century from Neil Johnson against some fearsome reverse swing.
When Pakistan batted again, Heath Streak and Pommie Mbangwa tore through the order, bowling the hosts out for just 103. Zimbabwe chased down 162 with seven wickets to spare, claiming their first Test win on foreign soil and going on to take the series 1-0 after the final Test was washed out.
West Indies pull off the Gabba pink-ball miracle (2024)
A West Indies side stacked with seven uncapped players, without a win in Australia since 1997, headed to a venue considered Australia’s fortress.
After conceding a first-innings lead, they set the hosts 216 to chase. Debutant quick Shamar Joseph, who’d been hit on the toe by a Mitchell Starc yorker two days earlier and was doubted to even bowl again in the match, produced a spell for the ages on day four: 7 for 68 in one unbroken burst of raw pace.
(Getty Images)
Steve Smith carried his bat for an unbeaten 91, but Joseph had the final word, bowling Josh Hazlewood to seal an eight-run win in one of the format’s most emotional finishes in recent memory.
India end Australia’s 32-year Gabba fortress (2021)
India arrived at the series decider missing an extraordinary list of first-choice players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and KL Rahul among them.
This forced a raw, inexperienced attack led by a young Mohammed Siraj into the deep end. Australia hadn’t lost at the Gabba since 1988. Debutant Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur combined for a stunning 123-run partnership to drag India back into contention after Australia’s 369, and Siraj followed up with his maiden five-wicket haul to restrict the hosts to 294.
(Getty)
This left India chasing an unprecedented 328 on the final day. Shubman Gill’s fluent 91 set the tone, Cheteshwar Pujara absorbed blow after blow for a gutsy 56, and Rishabh Pant finished the job with a fearless unbeaten 89, driving the winning boundary with three overs to spare. It is arguably one of the greatest overseas Test victories in Indian cricket history, as they completed one of the format’s most celebrated fortress breaches and sealed a famous 2-1 series win.
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