After what appeared to be a certain victory for India over South Africa in the 1st Test at Eden Gardens on Day 2, the spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer decimated the Indian batting line-up and helped South Africa to win the match. The five-day battle transformed into a three-day spectacle as India surrendered terribly in their pursuit of 124 runs.
Nevertheless, this monumental blunder is just two among many that Men in Blue listed in their not-to-do list. Here’s the lowest-targets India failed to chase in cricket.
Lowest Target That Team India failed To Chase in Tests
5. 193 vs England at Lord’s (2025)
The first on this remarkable list is from a match that India faced this year. In the third Test at Lord’s, on July 10, 2025, India lost to England in a chase of 193 runs after they had already covered a gigantic lead of 387.
In the second innings of the Test match, England succeeded in accumulating 192 runs on the lead, and during the chase, Yashasvi Jaiswal was run out without scoring. Captain Shubman Gill let down with 6, while Rishabh Pant also performed badly and was sent back after scoring just 9 runs.
It was only Ravindra Jadeja who was the highest scorer with 61 not out and remained on the field, while Mohammed Siraj, who was trying hard to last 29 balls, was finally out by Shoaib Bashir and India was folded for 170 runs, giving England a victory by 23 runs.
4. 176 vs Sri Lanka at Galle (2015)
At Galle in the first Test against Sri Lanka, India was also confronted with quite a miserable ending. With Sri Lanka getting all out for 183 in their first innings, India was ahead by a big margin after Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli’s centuries.
Still, Sri Lanka’s reply was mighty with Dinesh Chandimal’s 162 and significant support coming from Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, and Jehan Mubarak.
India going for 367 runs, needed 176 runs to win the match, where Rangana Herath turned to be the worst nightmare for the Indian batsmen. Herath took out top and middle order that led the sudden downfall of the team with 7-wicket haul while Tharindu Kaushal swept the tail end to flay and reduce India to only 112 runs thus, claiming the Test match by 63 runs.
3. 147 vs New Zealand at Wankhede (2024)
In the year of 2024, India was forced to play against the very challenging New Zealand team who made a series of great plays. In the third Test match at Wankhede on November 1, New Zealand were the first to bat and managed to score 235 runs more than India.
Jadeja and Washington Sundar were the pick of the bowlers with a total of 9 wickets shared between them, yet India only got a weak lead of 263 runs, with Shubman Gill’s 90 being the only significant contribution of the Indian batters.
New Zealand, however, came in with a very humble response and managed to score 174 runs leaving India with 147 runs to chase. Yashasvi Jaiswal, coming in to chase, was out for just 5 runs as Glenn Phillips struck early.
Ajaz Patel was the one who got 6 batsmen out, which included both Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli for just 1 run. Phillips took care of Ashwin and Akash Deep to fold India for just 121 runs in less than 30 overs sealing victory by 25 runs.
2. 124 vs South Africa at Eden Gardens (2025)
India had a terrible time at Eden Gardens on the third day of the first Test match against South Africa in November 2025. The Men in Blue, under the leadership of temporary captain, Rishabh Pant, experienced a massive collapse while trying to reach a target of only 124 runs on an unbelievable turning Kolkata pitch.
India was able to wrap the South Africans up for 159 and 153 runs in their two innings but at the same time, the Indian batting could not face the storm of Harmer.
Simon Harmer took 4 wickets in both 1st and 2nd innings and this created pain to the Indian dismissal that counted KL Rahul among the highest scorers with his 39 runs in total of two innings of Indian batters facing the visitors. In the end, the Indian top order fell apart while pursuing 124, as Mohammed Siraj surrendered the last wicket to Keshav Maharaj by forcing a thick edge to slip.
1. 120 vs West Indies at Bridgetown (1997)
Going back nearly two decades, in 1997, India was not able to score 120 runs in the West Indies’ favor in the third Test at Bridgetown in March. India responded with a solid 319 runs to West Indies’ 298-run lead in the first innings, which was mainly due to the superb innings of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who scored an unbeaten 137 runs.
West Indies quickly recovered the deficit but were eventually restricted to 140 runs as Abey Kuruvilla took five wickets and Venkatesh Prasad three, with Stuart Williams dismissed for a duck.
When it came to the chase of just 120 runs, India could not manage even 100 runs. Ian Bishop’s four wickets, together with three each from Curtly Ambrose and Franklin Rose, resulted in India’s demise for only 81 runs, with VVS Laxman being the highest scorer with just 19 runs before the West Indies claimed victory by 38 runs.
