5 times India won an overseas Test despite conceding the first innings lead
We often speak about the importance of the first innings of a Test match and how important it is to do well and set up the game in the first innings (with either bat or ball).
However, Test cricket often gives a team the second chance (i.e. second innings) to make a comeback. And that’s where the beauty of the longest format lies.
We’ve seen this happening to India over the years when they travel abroad. They take time to adjust to the conditions and then make an impact in the second innings.
Hence, here we take a look at 5 instances (or Test matches) where India won a Test match away from home despite conceding the first innings lead.
Note – Only Test matches outside Asia have been taken into consideration.
#5 The Oval - 1971
When India toured England in 1971, they were still chasing their first Test win in the UK. By the time the third Test of that series came, they had 15 losses out of 19 Tests in England and it looked like they would have to wait for some more time for their first win in England.
However, the positive was that the series was still level at 0-0 when the teams moved to The Oval for the third Test. England won the toss and batted first. The hosts were kept down to 355 as Eknath Solkar took 3/28 and the spin trio of Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan took two wickets each to contain the English batsmen.
In reply, most of the Indian batsmen got starts but none of them could convert it into a big score as they could only manage 284. Off-spinner Ray Illingworth took a fifer to give England a vital lead of 71 runs. However, a fantastic spell from Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (6/38) helped India skittle out the hosts for just 101 in the second innings.
India were set a target of 174 in the fourth innings and they chased it down to make history as they registered their first ever Test win in England. It was skipper Ajit Wadekar top-scored in that run-chase with 45.
Brief Scores: England 355 (John Jameson 82, Alan Knott 90, Solkar 3/28) and 101 (Luckhurst 33, Chandrasekhar 6/38) lost to India 284 (Dilip Sardesai 54, Farokh Engineer 59, Ray Illingworth 5/70) and 174/6 (Ajit Wadekar 45, Dilip Sardesai 40, Derek Underwood 3/72)