India’s first-ever Test match was in England, against the home country, in 1932. India have made several Test tours since then. Three times, they’ve won the series and there have been a couple of draws. In the early decades, England was much stronger and mostly won all series. However, the battle has become a lot more equal in this century.
The change in the world order is also reflected in the number of Tests played. Whereas most Test series were of three games, there has only been one such series since 2000. Otherwise, it’s been a minimum of four Tests, and of late of course, both sides play five Tests against each other, home and away. Over the years, several Indian players have performed exceedingly well in England. Here’s a look at the best of the lot.
Rahul Dravid (1376 runs in 13 Tests | AVG – 68.8)
Rahul Dravid began his Test career with 95 on debut in England in 1996, and since then he’s only bettered those returns. He has scored more than 100 runs per Test on average, and nearly always been among the standout batters when India has toured Engl
In 2002, he hit a magnificent 148 in seaming conditions in Headingley and then a masterful 217 at The Oval to ensure a drawn series. In 2007, he led the team to a series win, and in 2011, he was a magnificent lone warrior, with three centuries in four Tests as India were blanked 4-0.
Sourav Ganguly (915 runs in 9 Tests | AVG – 65.4)
Sourav Ganguly’s Test debut is the stuff of dreams. 131 at Lord’s followed by 136 at Trent Bridge established his love affair with the country. He continued to churn out great performances on subsequent tours. He had a 99 and a belligerent 128 in the 2002 series, and important contributions in the 2007 series victory too. In fact, in his last 10 innings in England spanning six Tests, Ganguly wasnever dismissed for single figures.
He did an adequate job with the ball too, with the English conditions most conducive to his medium-pacers. He took 8 wickets at an average of 31.8. He wasn’t always required to bowl, but when he did, he was reliable, frugal and chipped in with wickets.
Sachin Tendulkar (1575 runs in 17 Tests | AVG – 54.3)
No Indian batting list can be complete without Sachin Tendulkar in it. He hit his first-ever Test hundred in England aged a tender 17, saving the game for India in the fourth innings. He made 122 in Edgbaston in 1996 when the next highest score in the innings was 18. There were further big scores across series – 177 and 193, and several fifties too.
Tendulkar’s first tour to England was in 1990, and his last in 2011. Across two decades, he never once had a series in which he didn’t make at least a couple of crucial scores.
Dilip Vengsarkar (960 runs in 13 Tests | AVF – 44.3)
Before the turn of the century, it was Dilip Vengsarkar who flew the Indian flag the highest in England. His career spanned four tours of England, and in each of the first three, he hit a century at Lord’s. The last one came in a 2-0 series win by India in a three-match series in 1986. His returns diminished a tad on his final tour in 1990, although he still hit a half-century at Lord’s. Vengsarkar played in Indian teams that were often much weaker than England, and seen in that context, his returns are more than excellent.
Jasprit Bumrah (37 wickets in 8 Tests | AVG – 23.8)
Jasprit Bumrah has only been on two England tours, but such is his quality that two tours are enough to catapult him to the very top of the bowlers’ list. No Indian bowler has a better average in England, and by the time he’s done, you can safely bet that no Indian bowler will have more wickets than Bumrah either. He’s already third on the list, behind Ishant Sharma (48) and Kapil Dev (43).
In 15 bowling innings in England, Bumrah has gone wicketless just once, and that was back in 2018 when he was still in his first year of Test cricket.Bumrah will play just three Tests on this tour, or four if India are extremely lucky. Those Tests will be crucial, and the series might hinge on them.
Zaheer Khan (31 wickets in 8 Tests | AVG – 28.0)
Zaheer Khan had two full tours of England. He started in the first Test in 2011, but had to limp off the field, and out of the series, after 13.3 overs. In those, he had taken 2 for 18, and it’s one of the great ‘what ifs’ of Indian cricket on how that series would have panned out if Zaheer was fit and available for India. The eventual scoreline of 4-0 might have looked very different.
Zaheer was adequate, rather than standout, in his first tour in 2002. But in 2007, he really turned the heat on England. He bowled India to victory in the only Test that had a result, spurred on by a juvenile jelly beans prank, and continued to be incisive and menacing throughout.