Top 3 Best India Vs England Tests In England:- The Indian Cricket Team first toured England in 1932, 93 years ago to this day and 15 years before Indian independence. The two teams played only one Test on that tour, which England won. Since then, the Men in Blue have been on 18 tours to the birthplace of cricket.
India will now travel to England to play Test cricket for the 19th time under new captain Shubman Gill. The five-match Test series will kick off the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle and will play a big role in deciding the finalists for the WTC two years later.
The two nations have played 67 Test matches against one another on English soil, out of which the home team has won 36, 22 have been drawn, and India has won only nine. Today, we aim to look at the three best Test matches out of these 67.
Here are the top 3 best India vs England Test matches in England. These matches not only provided a thrilling contest between two strong teams but also played some role in shaping today’s cricketing landscape.
Honourable Mentions
- The 2nd Eng vs Ind Test match in 2007, where India dominated with the bat and won by seven wickets. This result also meant that India won their third, and as of yet, last Test series in England.
- The 4th Eng vs Ind Test in 2021 at The Oval, where India struggled in the first inning before making a remarkable comeback in the third inning and winning the match.
- The 2nd Eng vs Ind Test in 1946 at Old Trafford, where India escaped with a draw by the skin of their teeth, surviving with one wicket in hand.
- The 3rd Eng vs Ind Test match in 2018 at Trent Bridge, where India thrashed England by 200 runs, is considered Virat Kohli’s magnum opus on English soil.
- The 2nd Eng vs Ind Test match in 2021 at Lord’s, where India announced that they are a force to be reckoned with on any pitch in the world, with a 151-run victory
Top 3 Best India Vs England Tests In England
3) ENG vs IND 1st Test – August 2018 at Edgbaston
This would be the first of five high-profile Test matches played in the English summer of 2018. This series would see the home side thrash the Indians 4-1, and that would start with this match. While this series would be remembered for Virat Kohli’s heroics with the bat and that famous third Test, this match would set the tone for this series, that despite some great performances, India was always a step behind the Three Lions.
England would win the toss and choose to bat first at Edgbaston. Joe Root scored 80, and Ravichandran Ashwin took four wickets in the first innings of a Test in England. The home side made 287 runs. In response, India would fall 13 runs short, making 274, with Kohli scoring 149 of those.
England made just 180 runs in the third inning. Aswin took three more wickets, but Ishant Sharma starred with figures of 5/51. But with just 193 runs required to win, India would falter for 162. Once again, captain Virat Kohli would score a 50, but the rest of the batting order collapsed as the visitors lost by 31 runs, the smallest margin of victory in an India vs England Test match in England.
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2) ENG vs IND 3rd Test – August 1971 at The Oval
This was a historic result that not only changed the power structure between the two cricketing nations but was also the first step in India becoming a superpower in this sport. This was the Indian Cricket Team’s first Test win in England and also led to their first Test series win on English soil. Earlier in this three-match series, the first two games were drawn as we headed into the third and final Test at The Oval.
England won the toss and decided to bat first and put up a massive total of 355. Wicketkeeper Alan Knott scored 90 runs, while John Jameson and Richard Hutton scored over 80 runs. In response, India scored 284, with all batters besides youngsters Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath scoring in double digits. Dilip Sardesai and wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer scored half-centuries.
Then, in the third inning, the English batting order collapsed for 101. Indian leg-spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar bowled a brilliant spell of 6/31. But with a target of 173, the Indian opening duo departed early. Dilip Sardesai (40) and captain Ajit Wadekar (45) rescued the inning. Vishwanath contributed with a fine 33, and Engineer finished the game by scoring 28 as the Indian Cricket Team won by four wickets.
India’s first Test win in England also means that, because of the first two matches drawing, the team won the series as well, 39 years after first touring England.
1) ENG vs IND 2nd Test – July 2014 at Lord’s
India’s 2014 Test tour to England came after the Three Lions had comprehensively won the last two Test series between the two teams, one of which was in India. The first match of this series was a competitive affair that ended in a draw.
The second India vs England Test match in 2014 was played at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’, Lord’s Cricket Ground, and was the Indian team’s finest hour in this series. The home side won the toss and decided to bowl first on a swinging wicket. India scored 295 runs, with Ajinkya Rahane scoring a fantastic century.
In response, England took a 24-run lead and scored 319, with Gary Ballance scoring a century and all-rounder Liam Plunkett scoring a 50. Looking to give the opposition a challenging target, India scored 342. Mutali Vijay led the charge in this inning with 95, while Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar scored fighting half-centuries, and England had a target of 318 for the final inning.
Those who do not know about or remember this match might ask, What makes this game so special? The answer to that question is the greatest performance by an Indian cricketer in England while wearing whites.
While a target of 318 was a big one, the pitch at Lord’s had settled into being a batting-friendly one by the fourth inning. But Ishant Sharma had something to say about that.
Ravindra Jadeja opened the wicket-taking column by dismissing Sam Robson, and Mohammad Shami dismissed Ballance. Day 4 ended with Ishant Sharma taking two fine wickets, sending captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell back to the pavilion. But Day 5 started with Joe Root and Moeen Ali dominating the Indian bowling attack, and Root even scored a half-century.
Right before lunch, the score was 173/4, the wicket had settled down, and England was cruising towards the target. But then, the Ishant Sharma show started. The lanky pacer, rather than looking to bowl fuller lines, as pacers are supposed to in England, surprised Ali with a bouncer, getting him out right before the break.
In the penultimate session of the match, Ishant would dismiss Matt Prior with another short ball, with the batter getting caught at square leg. Another Sharma wicket came soon after off another short ball, with Ben Stokes launching the ball in the air and getting caught for a duck. With the Three Lions in trouble at 201/7, Ishant Sharma ended the English dream by dismissing an in-form Joe Root with another back-of-length ball.
In one of the greatest bowling performances by an Indian pacer on foreign soil, Ishant Sharma ended his spell in the fourth inning at 7/74. England was dismissed for 223 and lost the game by 95 runs. And while the home side ended up winning the series 3-1, for this one match, it seemed that India was ready to dominate world cricket.
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