Think Chepauk, think collapse

Chennai and batting collapses seem to go hand in hand, Eight of the last 10 Tests at the MA Chidambaram Stadium have seen dramatic batting c...

Chennai and batting collapses seem to go hand in hand, Eight of the last 10 Tests at the MA Chidambaram Stadium have seen dramatic batting collapses. And the pattern of those feats should give both India and Australia reason for hope:

8226; In five Tests, the team that has collapsed has lost heavily
8226; One Test saw a tie
8226; On 2 occasions a team has collapsed in one innings and gone on to win the match
8226; And, crucially, six of those eight collapses were engineered by spin

Here8217;s how they crack up

1984-85
COLLAPSE: 117-7 India, first innings
MATCH: vs England
DESTROYER: Neil Foster, 6/104
RESULT: India lost to England by 9-wickets

1986-87
COLLAPSE: 7-96 India, second innings
MATCH: vs Australia
DESTROYER: Ray Bright
RESULT: Australia tied with India

1987-88
COLLAPSE: 8-86 038; 7-117 West Indies
MATCH: vs India vs West Indies
DESTROYER: Narendra Hirwani
RESULT: India bt West Indies by 255 runs

1992-93
COLLAPSE: 9-129 England, first innings
MATCH: vs India
DESTROYER: Kumble, Chauhan and Raju
RESULT: India bt England by an innings and 22 runs

1997-98
COLLAPSE: 10-135 India, first innings
MATCH: vs Australia
DESTROYER: Warne and Robertson
RECOVERY: India scored 418/4 in their second knock, Tendulkar leading the way
RESULT: India beat Australia by 179 runs

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1998-99
COLLAPSE: 6-11 Pak, second innings
MATCH: India vs Pak
DESTROYER: Venkatesh Prasad for India
RECOVERY: Pak on the verge of defeat, India 16 runs short of victory when Tendulkar was out. India lost next four wickets for four runs
RESULT: Pakistan bt India by 12 runs

2000-01
COLLAPSES: Aus 7-51 038; 7-121; India 6-48 and 6-40
MATCH: India vs Australia
DESTROYERS: Harbhajan for India, Miller for Australia
RESULT: India bt Australia by 2 wickets 2002-03

2002-03
COLLAPSE: 7-50 038; 7-50 West Indies
MATCH: vs India
DESTROYER: Kumble and Harbhajan
RESULT: India beat Windies by 8 wickets