Before 1971 India were considered poor travellers. Leave aside winning, India mostly found themselves at the receiving end in away series.

However, the scenario changed dramatically under the leadership of Ajit Wadekar, when India defeated England in their own backyard.


India captain Ajit Wadekar lofts one during his match-winning knock of
48 in the third and final Test at The Oval in 1971. pics/Getty Images

Wadekar apart, the series saw stellar performances from the spin trio of Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkatraghavan, and flashes of brilliance from Eknath Solkar, Farokh Engineer and Dilip Sardesai.

This was a landmark victory in the history of Indian cricket, and laid the foundation for many more.

1st Test @ Lord's
England 304 (A Knott 67; BS Bedi 4-70, B Chandrasekhar 3-110) & 191
(J Eldrich 62; R Venkataraghavan 4-52) drew with India 313 (A Wadekar 85, G Viswanath 68, E Solkar 67; N Gifford 4-84) & 145/8 (S Gavaskar 53, F Engineer 35; N Gifford 4-43)

2nd Test @ Manchester
England 386 (R Illingworth 107, P Lever 88, B Luckhurst 78; Abid Ali 4-64, S Venkataraghavan 3-89) & 245/3 dec (B Luckhurst 101, J Eldrich 59) drew with India 212 (S Gavaskar 57, E Solkar 50; P Lever 5-70) & 65/3 (Gavaskar 24)