Indian cricketers are proven entertainers in England

Spectators in England can expect the same kind of entertainment India have provided through the years

Indian cricketers are proven entertainers in England

Spectators in England can expect the same kind of entertainment India have provided through the years

India may not be the all-conquering side which steam-rolled opposition teams with the same regularity as Clive Lloyd's West Indians in the 1970s and 1980s or like Steve Waugh's Australians later on.

But ever since Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup in 1983 till the last tour to England in 2007, India have provided much cheer to their fans, dishing out some powerful performances in England. The 1983 triumph was followed by a 2-0 Test series win in 1986.

In 1990, though India lost the Test series, they claimed the one-day contest. The Test series was spiced with some splendid individual performances Mohammed Azharuddin's Lord's Test hundred which experts waxed eloquent on just like they did for Graham Gooch's monumental 333-run effort. It was also the summer when England got a first glimpse of Sachin Tendulkar, who scored the first of his 42 Test hundreds in the second Test at Manchester.

While the English savoured the class of Tendulkar and Azharuddin, there were two hundreds from Ravi Shastri.

There's a story about a well-known commentator writing in his dispatches about how Shastri was efficient, but lacked the reputation of a big-hundred player. So when the Mumbai opener scored 187 at the Oval, he went up to this broadcaster and asked whether he was finally satisfied and convinced about his ability after that biggie.

It's a knock Shastri is proud of and never fails to stress that the broadcaster was humble enough to admit that he had been proved wrong.

India won the two-match Texaco Trophy one-day series, thanks to some glorious batting from Sanjay Manjrekar and skipper Azharuddin. Veteran Dilip Vengsarkar and Tendulkar came to the party in the second game as India surpassed England's score of 281 with five wickets to spare.

Summer of 1996
England were quite a force when Mohd Azharuddin's men landed in England, 1996. As usual, India lost the first Test of the series at Edgbaston only to draw the next two at Lord's and Trent Bridge where Sourav Ganguly began his great career with two Test hundreds.

England walked away with glory at Edgbaston but the man who got all the batting plaudits was Tendulkar for his 122 out of a second innings total of 219. The lost cause hundred impressed Richie Benaud in the commentary box. "You won't see a better innings than that this year and next year either," he said. And it was only early June. Tendulkar loftedu00a0 spinner Min Patel for a six to go from 96 to 100.

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