India's top 3 Test wins in England since 2000
Much to the delight of cricket’s purists, the hotly anticipated Test-series between England and India is now upon us. Exciting red-ball action beckons as both teams will be at loggerheads with each other in a five-match affair over the next month and a half. This is the moment of reckoning as both Virat Kohli and Joe Root will leave no stones unturned to get one over the other.
India’s tour of England has produced some classic test-matches over the years, giving us great narratives and unceasing entertainment at the same time. And this time too, it promises to be no different. With the first Test of the series literally days away, let’s take a look at India’s three memorable Test wins in England since the turn of the millennium.
#3 Headingly Test (2002)
The “poor travellers” tag that has been associated with the Indian team was just as befitting in 2002 as it is today. The men in blue had hardly enjoyed success outside the sub-continent since the turn of the millennium.
The tour of England that year presented an opportunity to change all that was being talked about but Sourav Ganguly’s men fell flat in the first test as they were forced to a 170 run defeat by the hosts at Lord’s. Batsmen from both sides dominated the second test at Nottingham and it ended in a draw. England looked all set to wrap up the series in the third test at Leeds but the visitors had other ideas.
Overcast conditions. Green top. In what is regarded as one of the most audacious decisions by an Indian skipper in history, Ganguly opted to bat first.
After Sehwag fell early in the innings, Sanjay Bangar and Rahul Dravid weathered the storm as the duo mixed caution with intent to stitch a 170-run partnership for the second wicket. It was all smooth sailing thereafter, as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly registered their individual tons and India declared their innings on a mammoth total of 628 runs.
In response, England could only muster 273 in the first innings with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble picking up 3 wickets each to enforce the follow-on. Despite a gritty century by Nasser Hussain in the second essay, they fell short, and India bagged the match by an innings and 46 runs to level the series.