Our Indian cricket team has come a long way and has to go a long way in the world of cricket. While India is gearing up for its 19th test series, 2021 against England, let us pull ourselves back to the glorious test matches our Indian batsmen played against England. India had some great hits since 1932 when India played its first test match against England.
Indian touring cricket teams had quite a bit of difficulty with the test series, securing only three-test series wins in the country. Let’s take a glance at some of the greatest individual performances of Indian batsmen that even though didn’t end up winning, few forced a draw and few had set the tone for historic wins.
10. Ajit Agarkar, 109, 1st Test, Lord’s (2002)
Ajit Agarkar was stuck with a misnomer and was taunted “Bombay Duck” after scoring seven zeroes against Australia across two continents and three seasons. On 29th July 2002, Agarkar went into the tremendous mode, playing blithe innings to roar his way to the Lord's Honours Board in one of the most entertaining hundreds. His knock of 109 runs from 190 balls on the final day of the first test series at the Lord’s Cricket Ground didn’t save India from the face of defeat, losing by 170 runs. No other Indian cricket batsmen scored a century apart from Agarkar in the entire match.
9. Virat Kohli, 149, 1st Test, Birmingham (2018)
Virat was more than determined for this, and it was a personal redemption more than anything else. He single-mindedly took purposeful steps to demolish the past demons of his previous England tour as he fought a lone battle to complete his 22nd Test hundred. Kohli was booed by the Edgbaston crowd when he walked out to bat during an England surge, but by the time he was done - 149 out of 220 - the crowd stood up as one to applaud one of the great ugly-but-beautiful innings.
8. M.A.K Pataudi, 148, 1st Test, Headingley (1967)
Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi a.k.a M.A.K Pataudi’s feats as a skipper of India is eulogized as one of the finest Indian skippers. He was the best thing that happened to Indian cricket since 1932 – the year in which India played its first Test. Leading India's fightback in the 1967 Headingley Test from a seemingly hopeless position after the first two-and-a-half days, he resisted back with a brilliant 148 at No.6, delaying the victory for England.
7. Vinoo Mankad, 184, 2nd Test, Lord’s (1952)
On the day of the test match in 1952 at Lord’s, Mankad's performance made him the only visiting Test player to produce Honours Board performances with bat and ball in the same match. He became the first Indian player to score a Test century. Scoring 72 in the first innings, he followed it with the knock of 182 runs in the 2nd innings. His 184 saw him on the crease for 270 minutes, hitting 19 fours and one six, to guide India to a total of 378 all out with a slender lead of 77.
6. Rahul Dravid, 217, 4th Test, The Oval (2002)
Rahul Dravid is a phenomenal player of the Indian cricket team, and this was never up for a debate about his profound 217 which was a brilliant classy effort. It was one of the two double centuries by an Indian player in England, captioning India’s comeback to the hosts’ mammoth 515.
5. Rahul Dravid, 146*, 4th Test, The Oval (2011)
Couldn’t keep this brilliant batsman away from another ranking in this list. His star-smashing knocks were the talk of the year. “The wall” stood tall amidst and batted against the hosts in the ruins at The Oval on August 22, 2011. India was completely whitewashed 4-0 in the Test series by England. But Rahul Dravid stayed upstanding like a warrior in the disastrous test in England. And he stayed unbeaten till the end.
4. Dilip Vengsarkar, 157, 1st Test, Lord’s (1982)
Dilip Vengsarkar had conquered the Lord’s at three different test tours, but his defiant 157 was the reason that stood out as one of India’s finest pieces of resistance in Test cricket. In the 2nd innings, following-on, Vengsarkar - batting at three - was determined to lead the fightback and scored a fantastic total of 157 off 264 balls in an innings that included 21 fours. Despite his earnest efforts, India could post a total of 369 in their second innings leaving England to score just 65 runs for victory, which they achieved in 19 overs.
3. Ajinkya Rahane, 103, 2nd Test, Lord’s (2014)
It was quite tough and India was on a near batting collapse, but Rahane’s gutsy yet fluent century helped India from a batting collapse. All eyes were on the brilliant and talented Virat Kohli to see if he could write his name into Lord’s folklore, but instead, it was Rahane who showed his class during the Test with a superb display that helped India go from 83/3 to 295 all out at the end of their first innings, on 2014 test series. The century laid the platform for India’s first win at Lord’s in 28 years.
2. Sachin Tendulkar, 119, 2nd Test, Manchester (1990)
India along with the whole world watched, as a 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar scored his first international century in 1990. Going against England at Old Trafford, Tendulkar became the third-youngest batsman to score a Test century. Tendulkar, at No.6, compiled a masterful 119, helping his side draw the second Test.
1. Sunil Gavaskar, 221, 4th Test, The Oval (1979)
Sunil Gavaskar pulled off a miracle against England that changed the whole course of the match. On September 4, 1979, a miracle was about to take place in the test match between England and India at The Oval. Chasing 438 for an unbelievable win, Sunil Gavaskar smashed a brilliant double century and notched up the highest score by an Indian in Tests against England at that time. India came close but fell short of 9 runs from what could have been the epic win in history.
