ENG Vs IND: Revisiting Team India's Top 6 Historic Test Moments In England

From their first series win in 1971 to Jasprit Bumrah's heroics at The Oval in 2021, Team India has created several unforgettable moments in Test cricket on English soil. This article revisits six of the most historic moments.

Team India will play the five-match Test series against England, with the first match starting on June 20 at Headingly. The series marks the beginning of a new era for Indian Test cricket as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli won't feature in the series as they retired from their red-ball careers before the tour.

Over the last several years, Team India has produced several historic and unforgettable moments in Test cricket on English soil. As the new-look India squad gears up for the England challenge in the upcoming five-match Test series, let's take a look at the top six historic moments from India's Test series in England.

One of the iconic and historic moments from India's Test series in England is none other than clinching their maiden series on England soil. Team India travelled to England six times for the Test series in 1932, 1936, 1946, 1952, 1959, and 1967, but returned home without a single Test win.

However, in 1971, under the leadership of Ajit Wadekar, India scripted history by becoming the first Asian team to clinch a Test series win in England. After two Tests ended in a draw, Team India registered its first Test win as well as series victory in England. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Farokh Engineer, and Gundapa Vishwanath played pivotal roles in India's historic Test win in England, marking the beginning of India's rise as a competitive force in international cricket.

Team India might have lost the series by 0-1, but the 1990 tour marked the arrival of 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, who announced himself on the world stage with his gritty and match-saving innings of 119* off 189 balls at Old Trafford in Manchester. In the first Test of the series, Tendulkar scored 10 and 27 in both innings at Lord's.

In the second Test, the young prodigy caught the attention of the cricket world with his innings knock of 68, followed by a century in the second innings. Tendulkar came up with a quality performance against a strong England attack on a deteriorated pitch. The maiden international century marked the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar on a grand stage. Tendulkar had a decent series, scoring 245 runs, including a century and a fifty, at an average of 61.25 in three matches.

The 2002 Test series between England and India marked a golden chapter in the career of Rahul Dravid as he produced one of the Test performances overseas. Though the series ended in a draw, 1-1, one of the biggest takeaways from the England tour was Rahul Dravid's sublime performance, as he notched up three centuries in a three-match series.

Dravid began with a gritty 115-run knock at Nottingham, followed by a majestic 148 at Headingly in the second Test, where India pulled off a famous win. In the fourth Test, Dravid played a marathon innings of 217 off 468 balls at the Oval. Rahul Dravid finished as the series's highest run-scorer with 602 runs at an average of 100.33 in six innings. He was the first and only Indian player to date to breach the 600-run mark in a Test series in England.

After winning the Test series in England in 1971 and 1986, India were in search of another series win for two decades on England soil until the long drought came to an end in 2007, under Rahul Dravid's leadership. The first Test of the series ended in a draw after MS Dhoni held India's fort with a gritty 76 off 159 balls in the second innings at Lord's. Then, in the second Test, India secured a crucial victory at Trent Bridge, thanks to brilliant performances by Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, and a match-winning spell by Zaheer Khan.

India's historic series victory came in the Oval Test after the match ended in a draw, sealing a 1-0 triumph in the three-match series-India's first Test series win in England in 21 years. The 2007 Test tour of England is not only remembered for the historic series win but also gritty performances by the batters and Zaheer Khan's brilliant bowling display, for which he was adjudged Player of the Series.

The first and last time India clinched a victory against England at Lord's was in 1986 under Kapil Dev's captaincy, and then, it took 28 years for India to register a second Test win at the iconic venue. In the 2014 Lord's Test, under the leadership of MS Dhoni, Team India delivered a memorable performance with a 95-run defeat against England. The match is not only remembered for India's historic win at Lord's, but also for a classy century by Ajinkya Rahane and a fiery spell by Ishant Sharma, who registered figures of 7/74 to dismantle England's batting line-up.

Seven years later, Virat Kohli-led Team India registered a third Test win at the Home of Cricket by defeating England in the 2021 Lord's Test, marking India's third-ever Test win at the iconic venue. The pace bowling trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami ran through England's batting line-up and bundled out England for a mere 120 to win the match by 151 runs.

One of the iconic moments from India's Test series in England is their stunning 151-run victory in the Oval Test in 2021, which was their second win at the venue after 1971. After conceding a 99-run first innings deficit, Team India made a remarkable comeback by banking on Rohit Sharma's first Test century in England and vital fifties by Cheteshwar Pujara, Shardul Thakur, and Rishabh Pant.

However, it was Jasprit Bumrah's game-changing spell on the final day of the Test that sealed a victory for Team India. He cleaned up Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow with his reverse swing delivery, which turned the momentum in India's favour. He was supported by Shardul Thakur's all-heroics, picking crucial wickets of Rory Burns and Joe Root, to help India bundle out England for 210. With this win, India took a series lead 2-1 and is regarded as one of the greatest overseas victories.

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