They are India’s oldest opponents and somehow it seems fitting that for the 100th Test match against England the two teams will be meeting where it all started way back in June 1932 – at Lord’s. The fact that it is also the 2,000th Test match makes the occasion doubly special.
Tests played between the two countries in England have very two very different phases. In the formative years — from the 1930s to the 1960s — Indian teams always fared abysmally in the alien wicket and weather conditions in England. Some of the worst records of Indian cricketers are associated with their performances in England. Out of 19 Tests played during the first six tours, India lost 15 and drew four. They lost all five Tests in 1959 and all three Tests eight years later. But for the intervention of rain they most likely would have lost all four matches in 1952. This in many ways was the most hideous tour of all. In the first Test at Leeds the Indians lost their first four wickets without a run on the board. It remains uniquely bizarre. In the third Test at Manchester India became the first team to be bowled out twice in a day — for 58 and 82 — to go down by an innings and 207 runs. In the final Test at the Oval India lost their first five wickets for just six runs. Seven years later two of the Tests were lost in three days and two more in 3-1/2 days. Three of the five defeats were by an innings. In 1967, the second Test at Lord’s was lost in 3-1/2 days by an innings and 124 runs while the final Test at Birmingham was lost in three days.
The turning point came about in 1971. The Indians fresh from a historic series victory in the West Indies made it an India Rubber Year by repeating the feat in England. Until then this was certainly the greatest feat in the history of Indian cricket given their abysmal record in the past and also considering the fact that the England team was the best in the world at the time. This was clearly an Indian team with a difference. They took the alien wicket and weather conditions in their stride, were temperamentally very strong and playing in the second half of the summer helped the spin trio of Bedi, Chandra and Venkat — the Indians’ trump card — to play a major role in the historic triumph.
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Since then the Indians have always been a respected — and even feared side — in England. True, there was the aberration in 1974 when all three Tests were lost, when the team was bowled out at Lord’s for 42 — still their lowest ever total in Test cricket — and when England won the final Test at Birmingham by an innings losing only two wickets in the process – only the third time this had happened in the history of the game.
Since then however the Indians have held their own in England. They have lost the contests in 1979, 1982, 1990 and 1996 only by margins of one Test, have won the series there in 1986 and 2007 and came back with a squared series in 2002. Overall however thanks to the initially successive setbacks England enjoy a 23-5 advantage with 20 draws. Perhaps not unexpectedly the situation is somewhat different in contests in India. India have been the dominant team and enjoy a 14-11 advantage with 26 draws. Initially this was because England did not send their strongest team with several leading players reluctant to tour India. However over the last 35 years the scenario has changed with English players quite eager to come to India. But the Indians on familiar home conditions have generally got the better of the visitors — underlined by the fact that only three touring sides under Douglas Jardine in 1933-34, Tony Greig in 1976-77 and David Gower in 1984-85 have emerged victorious in a Test series in India.
So as the teams brace for the doubly historic occasion, the four-match series has all the ingredients of a thriller. It is a high profile series what with the hype being built up and with the top ranking too up for grabs.
Resource:expressbuzz.com
Tests played between the two countries in England have very two very different phases. In the formative years — from the 1930s to the 1960s — Indian teams always fared abysmally in the alien wicket and weather conditions in England. Some of the worst records of Indian cricketers are associated with their performances in England. Out of 19 Tests played during the first six tours, India lost 15 and drew four. They lost all five Tests in 1959 and all three Tests eight years later. But for the intervention of rain they most likely would have lost all four matches in 1952. This in many ways was the most hideous tour of all. In the first Test at Leeds the Indians lost their first four wickets without a run on the board. It remains uniquely bizarre. In the third Test at Manchester India became the first team to be bowled out twice in a day — for 58 and 82 — to go down by an innings and 207 runs. In the final Test at the Oval India lost their first five wickets for just six runs. Seven years later two of the Tests were lost in three days and two more in 3-1/2 days. Three of the five defeats were by an innings. In 1967, the second Test at Lord’s was lost in 3-1/2 days by an innings and 124 runs while the final Test at Birmingham was lost in three days.
The turning point came about in 1971. The Indians fresh from a historic series victory in the West Indies made it an India Rubber Year by repeating the feat in England. Until then this was certainly the greatest feat in the history of Indian cricket given their abysmal record in the past and also considering the fact that the England team was the best in the world at the time. This was clearly an Indian team with a difference. They took the alien wicket and weather conditions in their stride, were temperamentally very strong and playing in the second half of the summer helped the spin trio of Bedi, Chandra and Venkat — the Indians’ trump card — to play a major role in the historic triumph.
Sports Quotes
Since then the Indians have always been a respected — and even feared side — in England. True, there was the aberration in 1974 when all three Tests were lost, when the team was bowled out at Lord’s for 42 — still their lowest ever total in Test cricket — and when England won the final Test at Birmingham by an innings losing only two wickets in the process – only the third time this had happened in the history of the game.
Since then however the Indians have held their own in England. They have lost the contests in 1979, 1982, 1990 and 1996 only by margins of one Test, have won the series there in 1986 and 2007 and came back with a squared series in 2002. Overall however thanks to the initially successive setbacks England enjoy a 23-5 advantage with 20 draws. Perhaps not unexpectedly the situation is somewhat different in contests in India. India have been the dominant team and enjoy a 14-11 advantage with 26 draws. Initially this was because England did not send their strongest team with several leading players reluctant to tour India. However over the last 35 years the scenario has changed with English players quite eager to come to India. But the Indians on familiar home conditions have generally got the better of the visitors — underlined by the fact that only three touring sides under Douglas Jardine in 1933-34, Tony Greig in 1976-77 and David Gower in 1984-85 have emerged victorious in a Test series in India.
So as the teams brace for the doubly historic occasion, the four-match series has all the ingredients of a thriller. It is a high profile series what with the hype being built up and with the top ranking too up for grabs.
Resource:expressbuzz.com
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