3 Indian captains who won a bilateral ODI series in England

Ever since the ODI cricket got underway, England has been one of the strongest teams in the limited overs format. More importantly, England has proved to be one of most stringent teams to beat at home. Well, every team is hard to beat at home, but England has been absolute demanding in English conditions.

However, England has faced some serious setbacks at home by the Indian team in ODI format. Till date, India has managed three bilateral ODI series win against England in England.

Thus, this slider will look into three captains who proved to be tough for England and helped India win a bilateral ODI series against England in England.

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#1 Kapil Dev, 1986: Series won by India, 1-1 (Due to high scoring rate)

Kapil Dev endorsed India to first ever World Cup win in England

Kapil Dev, aka The Haryana Hurricane, has been one of the best captains and all-rounders that India has India ever produced in its long history. The Haryana Hurricane set the paradigm shift for the Indian cricket.

Owing to his fiery batting skills and fast bowling, the southpaw took the world by storm and changed the perception of the world about the Indian team. Much more than his batting and bowling, it was his leadership that influenced the Indian cricket the most as he proved to be one of the best captains in the history of cricket.

Kapil Dev captained India in 74 ODI games and won 39 of them with a winning rate of 54.16 percentage.

Kapil Dev's best moments as a captain, after 1983 World Cup win, came in 1986 when India toured England. The fast bowling all-rounder was the captain of the Indian ODI team when England was hosting India for the Texaco Trophy 1986. India, under the leadership of Kapil Dev, won their first ever bilateral ODI series in England.

The Texaco Trophy commenced on 24 May 1986. The first ODI of the two-match series was at London while the second ODI was played at Manchester. Those were the times when an ODI match had 55 legal overs per innings instead of 50 overs.

India won the first ODI by nine wickets and Md. Azharuddin was adjudged player of the match. However, India had to face a defeat in the second as the then England captain, David Gower, struck a half-century to take England home.

David Gower and the present head coach of the Indian team, Ravi Shastri, shared the Player of the Series award between them.

The Texaco Trophy was tied 1-1, but India went on to win the series considering their high net run-rate as compared to England.

#2 Md. Azharuddin, 1990: Series won by India 2-0

Md. Azharuddin, a prodigious right-hand batsman, proved to be one of the most successful Indian captains. Azhar captained India in 174 ODI matches and won 90 of them with a high success-ratio of 54.16 percentage. With 90 ODI wins as a captain, Azhar is the second most successful captain after MS Dhoni.

Azhar's best moments as a leader came much early in his captaincy career when he was appointed as the captain of the Indian ODI team that was supposed to tour England for the Texaco Trophy in 1990. Under the tutelage of Azharuddin, India won its only second bilateral ODI series in England. India won the two-match series 2-0 which happened to be Azhar's debut ODI series win.

The Texaco Trophy, 1990 was a two-match ODI series which started on 18 July at Leeds with the second ODI scheduled at Nottingham. India whitewashed England 2-0. Interestingly, both of India's wins were of the same margin - India won both the ODIs with 12 balls remaining.

Once again, the player of the series award was shared between two players. Jack Russel and the then Indian captain, Azharuddin, shared the player of the series award.

#3 MS Dhoni, 2014: Series won by India 3-1

When you talk of Indian captains and MS Dhoni doesn't feature the list is impossible. Whenever you talk of best captains in the world, his name will pop right at the top of the list, such has been his reputation. Having captained India in 199 ODI matches, MS Dhoni won 110 games with a winning ratio of 59.57 percentage.

When India toured England in 2014, MS Dhoni had to face a lot of criticism after India's dismal performance in the Test series against England. However, the Indian team fought back and won the 5-match ODI series 3-1 (one match was washed out due to rain).

India won the series on the back of fantastic performances from Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan. India had some brilliant bowling performances as well. Having taken eight wickets in the series, Md. Shami finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series.

Suresh Raina was adjudged the player of the series for his all-round performance. Raina had scored 160 runs and took four wickets in the series to finish as the most valuable player of the series.

This win happened to be India's biggest win in England. Eventually, MS Dhoni became the only third captain after Kapil Dev and Md. Azharuddin to win an ODI bilateral series in England.