5 best knocks by England openers against India ft. Graham Gooch and Alastair Cook
England will battle against India in a five-match Test series commencing on Thursday, January 25.
India have been a dominant force in Test cricket on home soil and have not lost a series at home since 2012. On the other hand, England have been playing an exciting brand of red-ball cricket and will be hopeful that the "Bazball" theory will reap rich rewards in India.
India and England have played 131 Tests against each other so far, with England winnings 50, India notching 31 wins and 50 matches ending in draws. There have been a few enthralling knocks played over the years by batsmen from both teams.
On that note, here is a look at the five best knocks by England openers against India.
#1 Graham Gooch - 333 at Lord's, 1990
Graham Gooch holds the record for the highest individual score in India-England Test matches. The former English captain achieved this feat against India in 1990 at the iconic Lord's Stadium.
Gooch opened the batting and was at his destructive best. He added 127 runs for the second wicket with David Gower, 308 runs for the third wicket with Allan Lamb, and 192 runs with Robin Smith. Gooch scored 333 runs from just 485 balls and smashed 43 boundaries and three maximums against a hapless Indian bowling line-up.
Riding on Gooch's knock, England declared their first innings for 653 with four wickets lost. Gooch scored another century (123) in the second innings and England subsequently won the Test by 247 runs. Gooch was named Player of the Match for his match-winning innings.
#2 Alastair Cook - 190 at Eden Gardens, 2012
England were the last team to beat India in a Test series in India, in 2012, and Alastair Cook was a key figure in that side.
After losing to India in Ahmedabad, the visitors won in Mumbai and the action shifted to Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the third Test.
The Indian batters scored a below-par 316 in the first innings of the Kolkata Test. Cook thereafter occupied the crease for 377 balls and played one of the best innings on Indian soil in recent times.
He displayed great skills and temperament and scored a brilliant 190, including 23 boundaries and two maximums. An experienced Indian bowling attack, comprising Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Pragyan Ojha, failed to get his wicket in 126.5 overs.
By the time Cook was dismissed, England had already scored 359, having lost only three wickets. The visitors were subsequently bowled out for 523 and won the Test by a margin of seven wickets, taking a 2-1 lead in the series. England eventually won the series by drawing the fourth Test.
Cook was named Man of the Match for his patient, gutsy, and determined knock of 190.
#3 Graeme Fowler - 201 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, 1985
Greame Fowler's double century against India in Chennai in 1985 was a special knock. On a good batting surface, India were bundled out for a moderate total of 272 in their first innings.
The English openers - Graeme Fowler and Tim Robinson - provided a solid foundation and added 178 runs for the opening wicket. After the latter was dismissed, Fowler continued the onslaught on the Indian bowlers and scored a brilliant double century (201).
His innings included 22 boundaries and three maximums from 409 balls and he added 241 runs for the second wicket with Mike Gatting.
Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Ravi Shastri, Shivlal Yadav, and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan had no answer to Fowler's patient knock and failed to dislodge him. England eventually scored 652 in the first innings and won the Test by nine wickets.
Fowler was one of the architects for England in the said Test victory.
#4 Alastair Cook - 294 at Edgbaston, 2011
Alastair Cook played a marathon innings against India in Birmingham in 2011. After the visitors were bundled out for just 224 runs in the first innings, Cook combined with Andrew Strauss and scored 186 runs for the opening wicket before the latter perished.
Cook continued to pile on the misery for Indian bowlers and faced 545 balls for his innings of 294, smashing 31 boundaries.
England scored a mammoth 710 in the first innings and won the Test by a margin of an innings and 242 runs. Cook was named the player of the match.
#5 Andrew Strauss - 128 at Wankhede Stadium, 2006
The impact of Andrew Strauss's 128 was such that the innings deserves a special mention. Riding on the century of Strauss, England won the Test in Mumbai and leveled the series 1-1.
England were up against a strong Indian bowling lineup comprising Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, and a young pace duo comprising Munaf Patel and Sreesanth.
Strauss displayed his class by scoring 128 in the first innings. The knock was at a relatively quick pace, from just 240 balls, and included 17 boundaries and a solitary six. He added 178 runs for the second wicket with Owais Shah.
England scored 400 in the first innings and notched a rare Test win in India by a huge margin of 212 runs. Strauss was the lone centurion in the match.