Mid-Day recalls India’s three famous Test series wins in England

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

Mid-Day recalls India's three famous Test series wins in England

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)

3rd Test @ The Oval
England 355 (A Knott 90, A Jameson 82, R Hutton 81; E Solkar 3-28) & 101
(B Luckhurst 33; S Venkataraghavan 6-38) lost to India 284 (F Engineer 59, D Sardesai 54, A Wadekar 48, E Solkar 44; R Illingworth 5-70) & 174/6 (A Wadekar 45, D Sardesai 40, G Viswanath 33; D Underwood 3-72) by 4 wickets

1986: Vengsarkar hat-trick at Lord's

India were faced with adverse conditions in 1986 as they toured in early summer. But that didn't prevent them from winning the Test and ODI series in style. This was the first time India won at Lord's with Dilip Vengsarkar scoring a hundred for the third consecutive time.

India finally won the series 2-0 after taking an unassailable lead winning the first two Tests at Lord's (by five wickets) and Headingly (by 279 runs). In the 279-run win, England could only manage 102 and 128 in the two essays making a cakewalk for the visitors. The third Test was the only contested one, though India emerging at a stronger position.

Series summary 2-0

1st Test: Lord's Jun 5-10
England 294 & 180; India 341 &136/5. India won by 5 wickets

2nd Test: Leeds Jun 19-23
India 272 & 237; England 102 & 128. India won by 279 runs

3rd Test: Birmingham. July 3-8, 1986
England 390 and 235; India 390 and 174/5. Match drawn

2007: Zak sends England packing

After a hiatus of 11 years, India again managed to win a Test series in England in 2007. India won the second Test at Trent Bridge after surviving a scare in the first Test at Lord's. Thanks to bad weather conditions, India somehow held the host to draw.

The third Test also ended in draw but legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble smashed his maiden Test ton here after having played 17 years and 118 Tests.

Zaheer Khan emerged the Man of the Match in Trent Bridge and Man of the Series too. His deadly swing compelled critics to compare him with Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram. Zaheer returned a figure of 9-134 in Trent Bridge which also included the jelly bean incident on the pitch. Though England came back strongly in the ODIs managing 4-3 victory.

Series summary 1-0
1st Test: Lord's, July 19-23
England 298 and 282; India 201 and 282/9. Match drawn

2nd Test: Nottingham, July 27-31
England 198 and 355; India 481 and 73/3. India won by 7 wickets

3rd Test: The Oval, Aug 9-13
India 664 and 180/6d; England 345 and 369/6. Match drawn