With India now having played over 500th Test matches, the journey from being an ambitious bunch of players into a redoubtable team is simply astonishing. Since debuting against England at the home of cricket in 1932, they had to endure massive highs as well as unforeseen lows on their road to accomplishing several laudable feats.
During these 84 years, 32 cricketers have been given the honour of leading the country to 132 wins and 157 defeats. Travelling through generations, the Indian team has stitched together numerous unforgettable memories.
In this segment, we will look back at the top five cricketing moments for the team in test matches against England.
India vs England, Chennai, 1952
It had been 24 Tests and almost 20 years, but a Test victory still remained elusive. For a nation which was beginning to come out of the shadows entrenched from British rule, success against England would go a long way in establishing their credentials. They had good performers but had yet to register a single Test win. India went into the final Test of their home series against England being 1-0 down. However, legendary Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad clearly wanted more than just another draw. A brilliant spell of spin bowling from him (8-55) saw England being dismissed for 266, a total that looked even more modest when India, spurred by centuries from Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar amassed 457. An English defeat – almost as unthinkable as an Indian win – now seemed on the cards, and Mankad again played a role, taking 4-53 as England were knocked over for 183, giving India an innings victory and their first ever win in Test cricket.
India vs England, Leeds 1967
India went into the series as underdogs and no one expected any fight at all from a team at all. As expected England put up a massive 550-4 (Geoffrey Boycott scoring an unbeaten 246) and then dismissed the visitors for a mere 164. India were asked to follow on and many felt that an English win was what going to happen. They had however had to play without Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the captain of the Indian team. Deprived of proper vision in one eye because of a car accident, he nevertheless was on his day one of the bravest and most exciting players in world cricket. And with his team facing imminent defeat, he now proceeded to play the innings of his life. The fifties by Farokh Engineer, Ajit Wadekar and Hanumant Singh set the platform for recovery and Pataudi then unleashed the English bowling attack with an unbelievable 148 to help India put up a massive 510.
England now needed just 125 runs to win the match but were dealing with the more determined Indian team. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Erapalli Prasanna wove spinning patterns around a befuddled top order. In the end, England reached their target but after losing four wickets and scoring runs at a trickle. India might have lost the Test but in the eyes of many, it had won self-respect. That amazing second innings would lay the legend for great Indian second inning fightbacks – no team would ever take an Indian team batting for a second time lightly. An English newspaper headline had all praise for team India after they showed immense courage and heart to fight aginst and close in on one of the best teams in that time.
India vs England, The Oval (1971)
As they set foot on English shores in 1971, the Indians had a lot to prove regarding their ability to play under seam-friendly conditions. Despite having beaten West Indies away from home a few months earlier, Ajit Wadekar’s team was not presumed to challenge England in England yet.
But, the first Test indicated that a cracking series was in the offing and series moved to Oval for the decider.
When the hosts eked out a 71-run lead, the odds were stacked heavily in their favour. However, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar produced perhaps the greatest ever spell by an Indian bowler by scything through the batting lineup in an hour of utter mayhem to leave his batsmen with only 173 to get for glory. That they did and Indian cricket had finally come off age.
India vs England, Nottingham 2007
This came in a match which India badly needed to win to erase the memories of the miserable performance in 2007 World Cup. It was the Test series win in England under Dravid’s leadership, which India won by 1-0. This was India’s third Test series win in England since 28 years. The first Test being a draw India put their hearts out to win the second test at Nottingham with Zaheer being the star with 9 wickets in the match which helped India win comfortably and go to the third which they eventually drew and won the series 1-0.
India vs England, Lords 2014
The Lord’s Test of 2014 was one in the history. Ajinkya Rahane scored a splendid hundred in the first innings and later Ishant Sharma took seven wickets and bounced the English batsmen in the final innings of the match to win the Test single-handedly for India. It had been a long time since the world saw an Indian quickie bouncing off the English men and leading to a victory. It was surely a special victory as India won a Test at Lord’s after 28 long years.
