England visit India in a five-match Test series starting on the 25th of January and the anticipation for the traditional and longest format of the game between the two heavyweights is immense.
Amid the growing tension, which seems rather palpable, in the lead-up to the series, here’s a look at some of the most memorable five-day affairs on Indian soil when the English have come on tour.
1952 Chennai Test: India’s first win
The victory where it all started!
This was the first-ever time the men from India managed to get one up over their English counterparts as they picked up a massive triumph by an innings and 8 runs.
Vinoo Mankad, the man synonymous with the runout caveat, hit the headlines for all the right reasons as he scalped eight English batters in the first innings. He also picked up four wickets in the second innings.
Ton from the willows of Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar, 130 and 111 respectively, put India on their way to their maiden win over the Englishmen in the final fixture of a five-match Test series on home soil.
1985 Kolkata: Draw – The Four-Day First Innings
The drawn Test that people took note for the duration of the Indian men spent at the crease. Fas and Pundits might yet be split on if the legendary Sunil Gavaskar took a bit too long to declare the innings, but a classic nevertheless.
Tons from Mohammed Azaruddin and Ravi Shastri were the highlight of India’s first innings that went on till midday of the penultimate day of the contest.
India wrapped up the English batting order for 297 runs before any one of their batsmen could even reach the half-ton mark. But, the teams ended up sharing the spoils at the end of the final day of the Test.
The game is also noted for the absence of the legendary World Cup winner Kapil Dev, who was dropped for the encounter, which understandably caused a huge stir at the time.
2006, Mumbai Third Test: England win – Final Day Hail Mary on Tour
The series in which the touring Englishmen managed to pull away a draw with a levelling win on the final day of the tour thanks to a rather unknown spin quantity in Shuan Udal.
England put up 400 runs on the board in the first innings thanks to Andrew Strauss’s century, before bundling India out before they got to the three-hundred-mark.
England added 191 runs in the second innings before wrapping the Indian chase up for just 100 runs as Udal had his moment in the sun.
2008, Chennai Test: India win – Unbeaten Sachin Ton
The first time the Englishmen travelled to the shores of India after the horrendous 26/11 attack in Mumbai.
The men in blue gave the nation something to celebrate as they got the better of England despite Andrew Strauss’s two tons, one in each innings of the game. England managed to put up a total of 316 thanks to Strauss’ 123-run knock in the first innings, as India made 241 in reply before the Englishmen declared their second innings after making 311 as Paul Collingwood stood alongside Strauss for a ton each.
However, an unbeaten century by the Master Balster Sachin Tendulkar and sizeable contributions from Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag aided India in their cause and sealed a memorable win in Tamil Nadu.
2012, Mumbai Test: England win – Series Turner
The Test at the famous Wankhede proved to be a turning point in the series England managed to win after a long wait. Their previous series win in India was back in the year 1985, but the 2012 tour of India for the English was special.
The English spin duo of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann shone at Maharashtra City as they bundled out India for 327 and 147 in the two innings’.
Panesar’s left-arm spin puzzled the Indian batters, as the southpaw picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings and six wickets in the second, while Swann picked up a pair of four wickets in either innings of the game.
Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook notched up tons for the Englishmen as they soared to a win that propelled them on their way to a series win.
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