5 best Test centuries at Lord's by Indian batsmen 

The Lord's Cricket Ground, widely referred to as the Home of Cricket, is a historic venue in the game of cricket. When cricket fans talk about the Lord's, the first image that immediately pops out of their minds, is a Victorian style pavilion which includes the glorious Long Room, a bar and dressing rooms with the famous Lord's balcony.

The picturesque balcony at Lord's has always held a special place in cricket. It has not changed much over the years, resulting in an album full of wonderful memories traversing through the generations of great players.

The dressing rooms also have Honours Boards to commemorate all the Test centuries scored, five and ten wickets hauls in a Test match. The illustrious list features just nine Indian batsmen as century scorers with many goliaths of Indian batting missing. This points to the fact that Indians have hardly enjoyed batting at the Home of Cricket.

Scoring a century at Lord's in conditions absolutely contrasting to subcontinental ones against the mighty English bowlers who can make that red cherry talk is a tough ask. Out of those nine centuries, I have picked five based on its significance in the match and the situations in which those centuries were scored.

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#1 The historic tour of 1986- Dilip Vengsarkar's match-winning knock

Dilip Vengsarkar scored three tons at the Lord's

Dilip Vengsarkar was India's one of the most consistent No. 3 for over a decade. With close to 7000 runs in Test cricket and 17 Test centuries, Vengsarkar scored a plethora of runs in the late 1970s and most part of 1980s. He was rated as the best batsman in the Coppers and Lybrand rating in 1986-87.

Vengsarkar scored an astonishing six Test centuries against West Indies in the era of tearaway fast bowlers like Holding, Marshal and Roberts.

Vengsarkar was never bogged down by seaming conditions. Three Test centuries at the Lord's is a testimony to the fact that he was a special player. He scored a bucket load of runs on a ground on which Indian batsmen have found tough to score. The first century came in the year 1979 and it resulted in a draw. He again made a century in a losing cause at the venue in the 1982 tour.

Then came India's tour of England 1986 - a tournament etched in the memory of all the Indian cricket fans and the Indian team members. The 2-0 series victory included a win at the Lord's.

Lord's Test, 1986: England scored a respectable 294 in the first innings with the help of GA Gooch's ton. Chetan Sharma scripted India's comeback with a 5-wicket haul. India in the first innings did not get off to a great start. The visitors lost both the openers at the team score of 90.

Mohinder Amarnath and Vengsarkar steadied the ship and stitched a crucial 71-run partnership. While Amarnath got out after scoring a well-made 69, the stalwart of Indian batting line-up, Vengsarkar continued batting and went on to score his third Test ton at Lord's.

He remained not out at 126 as Indians secured an important 47-run lead over England. In the second innings, England was bundled out for just 180. A target of 134 was achieved by India with five wickets in hand.

It was Vengsarkar best innings overseas that lead India to a historic win at Lord's.

#2 India tour of England 1996- The 'Dada' of Indian cricket announces his arrival

Sourav Ganguly scored a century on debut at Lord's

Sourav Ganguly was a legendary batsman and a trailblazer who led the team in his unique way. Ganguly was a naturally attacking player and loved taking challenges head-on. He is popular as 'Dada' or 'Prince of Kolkata' among the fans.

Ganguly took on as a captain of the Indian team at a stormy time when the match-fixing scandal shook the Indian cricket. He turned the team into a force to be reckoned with, both at home and overseas. As a batsman, Ganguly scored over 7000 Test runs with 17 centuries against his name and over 11000 runs in ODIs with 22 centuries.

His opening partnership with Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs went on to become one of the strongest opening pairs in world cricket.

Sourav Ganguly had a dream debut. He became only the third player in the world to score a century on debut at Lord's. His score of 131 in his very first innings still remains the highest score on debut at Lord's.

Lord's Test, 1996: England scored a more than respectable total of 344 in their first innings. With two debutants in the Indian middle order, England was in a buoyant mood hoping to run through the Indian batting lineup.

Unfortunately for them though, the two debutants contributed handsomely with the bat. They went on become the superstars of Indian cricket. Ganguly scored a magical 131 and Dravid missed the century by a whisker. He was dismissed after an awe-inspiring knock of 95. This propelled India's total to 429 in the first innings.

The match ended in a draw. Ganguly followed it up with another big ton in the very next match proving the world that he was not a one time wonder.

#3 India tour of England 2002- Ajit Agarkar surprises everyone with his maiden Test ton

Ajit Agarkar of India celebrates after scoring a century at Lord's

Those wonderful scene when the entire Lord's stood up in awe and players from both the teams were appreciating the rare feat still reverberates in the minds of many. It was when the unsung hero of Indian cricket scored his first and only Test century, that too at the Mecca of Cricket when India was struggling to save the game.

The boy from Mumbai, Agarkar was never a mug with the bat. He had impressed everyone with his pyrotechnics with the bat. He had scored the fastest fifty by an Indian off just 21 balls in 2000. He proudly holds the record even now.

He also holds the record of completing 200 wickets and scoring 1000 runs in the least number of matches. Agarkar is also the third highest wicket-taker for India in ODIs.

Lord's Test, 2002: It was the first Test of India's tour of England 2002 and the visitors were chasing a mammoth 568 runs in their second innings after conceding a massive lead of 266 in the first innings.

India had pinned their hopes on the experienced batting order to sail the team safely towards a draw. But the hopes were dented when India lost six wickets before the close of play on Day 4 and the ship had started to sink fast.

With Ajit Agarkar on the crease alongside the second innings specialist VVS Laxman at the start of Day 5, no one expected that England would be stretched for so long on the final day. Laxman tried his best and scored a fighting 74 resulting in a partnership of 126 with Agarkar. Agarkar went on to score an extraordinary 109 not out which included 16 ravishing boundaries against a good bowling unit.

Unfortunately, the tail couldn't hang on with him and India lost by 170 runs but Agarkar won many hearts.

#4 2011 India tour of England - When the ageing 'Wall' refused to collapse

Rahul Dravid scored a fighting 103* at Lord's

'The Wall', Rahul Dravid was an epitome of patience and focus. He loved sweating it out in the middle. The humble batting maestro had an impeccable technique and an organised way of going about his innings. He used to build his innings ball by ball, eventually resulting in a huge score.

The legend who scored over 10000 runs in both the formats, redefined style and class. The frequent image of sweat pouring out of his helmet while batting still remains fresh in the memory of Dravid fans.

The elegant right-hander announced his arrival when he scored a brilliant 95 on debut at Lord's. After that, there was no stopping Dravid as kept on piling runs. He had a phenomenal ability to judge the ball right out of the bowler's hand. The attribute helped him play the fast bowlers and spinners with ease.

Dravid found a great partner in VVS Laxman. Together they were involved in some massive partnerships. With 36 tons and five double tons, Dravid was absolutely relentless in Tests.

Lord's Test, 2011: Dravid was in the twilight of his glorious career and hadn't scored a century at Lord's yet. England batted first and scored 474 with Pietersen scoring a fabulous double ton.

In reply, India could only manage 286. The highlight of the innings was Rahul Dravid's batting as he stood tall and scored a splendid undefeated 103 runs. The match proved to be his final match at the historic venue. India lost the match by a massive margin of 196 runs.

By scoring the century, Dravid finally got his name etched on the Honours board after having missed the feat in his debut match in 1996.

#5 India tour of England 2014- Ajinkya Rahane holds the innings together

Ajinkya Rahane has batted brilliantly overseas

Once regarded as the Mr Dependable of Indian Test team - the epitome of calmness, Ajinkya Rahane has on many occasions bailed India out of tough situations, especially on overseas tours. Although Rahane has been out of form for quite sometime now, the dogged middle-order batsman has played many innings of substance in his career.

Rahane had meticulously built his game against seam bowling piece by piece under the guidance of his coach Praveen Amre to tackle the seam-friendly conditions overseas. Hard work paid off and Rahane scored in the entire 2013-14 away season with metronomic consistency.

Along with Murali Vijay, he was the only batsman who stood firm against fiery bowling units on green top pitches of South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and England.

Rahane's gritty knock of 103 in the 2014 Lord's Test was instrumental in guiding India to a victory at the venue after 28 long years.

Lord's Test 2014: India was batting first and wickets kept tumbling as Rahane stood strong at the other end. India was in all sorts of trouble at the score of 145/7.

It was at this time when Rahane along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, pushed India's total to a respectable 295. England secured a small first-innings lead of 24. In reply, India scored 342 in their second innings with Vijay, Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar scoring valuable half centuries.

Chasing 318 in the final innings, the hosts lost match by 95 runs. Ishant Sharma wrecked havoc on the hosts by claiming figures of 7/74. His short ball strategy destroyed the English batting lineup.