India and their rising English graph!

The Indian team’s performance has gradually improved over the last 15 years in England. ESPNSTAR.com takes a look back at the 1996, 2002 and 2007 tours.

By Abhideep Das
While watching a cricket match on television, one is accustomed to seeing a steady increase in the run-rate graph of the batting team in the last 15 overs of an ODI. India’s Test performances over the last 15 years in England, have seen a similar trend. Here’s a rundown:

1996 – Season of golden debuts
The selection of the Indian team for the three-Test series was shrouded in controversy. Questions were raised as to how four spinners (Anil Kumble, Venkatpathy Raju, Sunil Joshi, Narendra Hirwani) could be part of a touring party going in the early half of an English summer. The team, lead by Mohammad Azharuddin, had as many as six players (Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Vikaram Rathour, Sunil Joshi, Venkatesh Prasad, Paras Mhambrey) who were yet to play Test cricket!

After going down in the ODI series 2-0, the Indian team wasn’t expected to do much in the first Test at Birmingham. As expected, the visitors lost the match by eight wickets. But that game will always be remembered for some brilliant bowling from debutant Prasad, apart from a sublime ton from Sachin Tendulkar in the second innings.

Prior to the beginning of the second Test at Lord’s, an injury to Sanjay Manjrekar meant that the duo of Ganguly and Dravid got their place in the playing eleven. The rest, as they say, is history since Ganguly compiled a majestic 136 at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’ while Dravid fell short of a hundred by a mere five runs. Although this Test match ended in a draw, Indian fans got a glimpse of what was to follow for the next decade after ‘DADA’ and ‘JAMMY’ struck a magnificent 94-run stand for the sixth wicket during the first innings.

England wanted to ensure that they do not lose the series, hence prepared a flat deck at Trent Bridge. Tendulkar and Ganguly continued their great run by compiling centuries in the first innings. This Test too ended in a draw and England won the series 1-0. Ganguly, with 315 runs, emerged the highest run-scorer from India while Prasad finished with 16 wickets.

2002 – Dawn of a new era

The four-match Test series was preceded by India’s stunning come-from-behind win in the tri-nation ODI series final over England. There was hope for genuine optimism as Team India, led by Ganguly, was starting to show fierce resolve and wonderful team-spirit in crunch situations. Only the year before, India had finally won a Test match outside the subcontinent (Zimbabwe) for the first time in 15 years. Prior to the England tour, the Men-in-Blue had also recorded a Test match win in the West Indies.

But all that positive feeling and optimism came crashing to the ground India, notorious for being slow starters, lost the series opener at Lord’s by a massive 170 runs. There were only a couple of bright spots for India with Virender Sehwag, opening for the first time in the longest format of the game, scoring a whirlwind 96-ball 84 in the first innings. Meanwhile Ajit Agarkar recorded his only ton (109) in Test cricket in the second innings!

In the second Test at Trent Bridge, India seemed destined to lose as they did at Lord’s. Despite a stunning Sehwag century in the first innings, Team India trailed the Englishmen by a massive 260 runs in the first innings. Defeat loomed large on Day 4 for Ganguly and company as they lost a couple of quick wickets towards the end of play. But everything changed on the final day with Dravid leading the way with his first hundred (115) of the series while Tendulkar (92) and Ganguly (99) showing great resistance to help India earn a deserving draw.

The third Test at Headingley saw Team India breaking new grounds. On a seaming Day 1 track, Ganguly surprised a lot of people by electing to bat. Dravid and a little known Sanjay Bangar ensured that the captain’s brave decision to bat first, did not backfire as they held off the England attack for a major portion of the day. ‘THE WALL’ (148) played one of the most significant knocks of his career to ensure that ‘DADA’ (128) and Tendulkar (193) tore into the opposition bowling on Day 2.

This helped India post a mammoth 628/8 declared. Good disciplined bowling from Anil Kumble and company in the rest of the game helped the Indian team record one of its most famous wins abroad. In the end, the winning margin of an innings and 46 runs was a perfect indicator of India’s dominance in that match.

The fourth and final Test at ‘The Oval’ was Tendulkar’s 100th game. This high-scoring affair ended in a draw with Dravid (217) firmly establishing himself as the mainstay of Indian batting. The series thus ended 1-1.

2007 – Redemption time

This series was played at a time when Indian cricket was probably at its lowest ebb. The shock first-round ouster from the World Cup in the Caribbean islands hastened the end of the infamous Greg Chappel era. The team led by Dravid on its England sojourn, needed to do something significant in order to earn back the trust of its passionate fans.

The first Test at Lord’s can definitely be described as ‘The Great Escape’ for the visitors. With defeat looming large, rain and a defiant Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped Team India escape with a draw.

India put on a brilliant dominating show in the second Test at Trent Bridge. After bowling out the hosts for a score below 200, the Indian batsmen, led by the combination of Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer, put up a great performance. The top six batters, barring the skipper, recorded fifty-plus scores to help India gain a lead of 283 runs in the first innings.

A fired-up Zaheer Khan, fresh from the ‘Jelly Beans’ incident, then came up with an inspired five-wicket haul show late on Day 4 to set up victory for Team India. The target of 73 runs was duly achieved early on Day 5.

The third Test at The Oval will always be remembered as the one where Kumble, in the twilight of his career, went on to achieve one of his long cherished goals of a Test match century. This achievement was even more significant in the light of the fact that none of the other ‘big batting guns’ in the Indian team could achieve this feat on that tour. The Test ended in a draw. Team India, thus, recorded its third Test series triumph in England after 1971 and 1986.

If history and trend is anything to go by, another emphatic series triumph abroad for Dhoni and company can be awaited!