India, Aug. 14 -- India began their Test journey when the country itself was still fighting for freedom. Ninety-four years later, the 600th chapter of that journey will begin on the anniversary of the day India became independent.

When Shubman Gill leads his side out against Sri Lanka in Galle on August 15, India will play their 600th men's Test, becoming only the third nation after England and Australia to reach the landmark. The occasion, falling on Independence Day, gives an already significant number a deeper historical resonance. India's Test story, however, is much more than the accumulation of 600 matches. It is the story of a country that went from merely belonging at cricket's highest table to learning how to win, conquering ove...