Indian cricketing greats who have not realized their potential in England

A tour to England for players from the subcontinent is looked upon as a challenge for an individual as well as a team. Cool/moderate climate, swinging and seaming conditions are unfamiliar to subcontinental players and hence performing in England is a major incentive to one's career.

A solid batting performance coupled with bowlers who get movement of the air or seam is vital to performing well in England and India have also done well on few tours to the Old Blighty having won there on three occasions- 1971,1986 and 2007, a series draw in 2002.

Apart from that, India has largely disappointed having even been whitewashed on three occasions- 1959, 1974 and 2011. Each team is difficult to defeat in their own backyard and England is no exception having been rarely defeated by touring teams and their last test series loss at home came in 2014 (2 match series).

A series win is achievable when the mainstays of the batting and bowling unit perform to their potential and when they are ably supported by others. Many legends of the game have performed exceedingly well in England with the likes of Sir Donald Bradman, Vivian Richards, Imran Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid boasting of impressive stats and matchwinning performances.

However, there are some great cricketers- particularly Indian as the article focuses on them, who've not performed as they would've liked in England.

Note: The criterion for selection is that the player should have lasted a complete test series on a minimum of two occasions. This is the reason why Virender Sehwag despite averaging a low 27.80 has not been included as he went to a test tour to England midway(3rd test) in 2011.

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1.Polly Umrigar

Polly Umrigar meeting the great Sir Jack Hobbs in 1959

One of the earliest batting legends for India along with Vijay Hazare and Vijay Merchant, Polly kaka was a prolific run scorer in both First class and Test level. He played in 59 tests scoring 3631 runs at an average of 42.22 and he batted in the middle order playing vital knocks.

He went on two full tours to England in 1952 and 1959 and they yielded poor results for the team as well as Polly. Throughout these tours, he scored heavily against first-class teams but came short against a bowling line-up of the likes of Trueman, Statham and Laker.

He could manage only one test century and in 15 test innings, he made 273 runs at a below-par average of 18.20.

2. Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev

India's first genuine quick bowler and one of the greatest all-rounders of the world could seem to be a surprising presence in this list. But he's here because of his ordinary performances with the ball in England despite the conditions suiting his style of bowling.

He went on a tour of England on 4 occasions- 1979, 1982, 1986 and 1990 and he was the captain in 1986 who lead India to a famous test series victory.

He captured the imagination of the English public with the bat and was engaged in a famous contest with Ian Botham in the 1982 series with both looking to outdo each other's feats.

In 20 innings, he scored 638 runs at a good average of 35.44 but his 43 wickets inclusive of two 5 wicket hauls came at a costly 39.19.

3. Anil Kumble

When Kumble did what his illustrious teammates couldn't on the 2007 tour of England

Anil Kumble, with all due respect, wasn't a consistent performer outside the subcontinent and this could be attributed to the conditions that hardly aided spin bowling.

He was almost not included on the squad to tour Australia in 2003/04, where he would go on to lead the bowling charts because of the notion that he didn't win matches for India outside the subcontinent.

Kumble went to England in 1990,1996,2002 and 2007. He never got a five-wicket haul with his best performance in an inning being 4/66 at Headingley in 2002 and he got his 36 wickets at a high average of 41.42.

Despite this, he contributed to India's test wins on the tours of 2002 and 2007 by picking wickets at regular intervals and was a great support to the quicks.

4. VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman plays a shot during India's 2011 tour

A great match-winner and the one who batted India out of danger on numerous occasions in Test matches also features in this list due to his mediocre numbers in England.

He went on three tours to England- 2002, 2007 and 2011 and although he had averages of 39 and 50 in his first two tours, it was his final tour to England that altered his record and rendered it ordinary.

He batted 19 times and scored 586 runs at a below-par 34.47 and as mentioned above, he like his peers with the exception of Dravid and Tendulkar failed to score in 2011. He couldn't score a single test century in England.

5. The famed Indian Spin Quartet

Deceiving rather than intimidating the batsman was their mantra to success

Although a group and not an individual, they feature in this list as one entity for their not-so-impressive bowling record in England. The 4 bowlers played together in only one test in the Birmingham test of India's 1967 tour.

Bedi, Chandra and Venkat were instrumental to India's 1971 series victory with Chandra, in particular, producing a devastating spell of spin bowling in the Oval test in 1971 in England's second innings.

Owing to his 6/38, England were bowled out for a mere 101 to provide India with a target of 174 which they chased down with four wickets in hand. But that tour seemed to be a one-off instance for the quartet as they came up short in subsequent tours.

Chandra participated in the 1967,1971 and 1974 tours and picked up 31 wickets at 33.97 with two five-wicket hauls, Venkat went on 1967, 1971 and 1979 tours having managed his 20 wickets at 41.05 without a five-wicket haul.

Bedi went on the tours of 1967,1971,1974 and 1979 and managed to pick 35 wickets at 38.09 and Prasanna featured in the least number of matches and didn't make the 11 in 1971 but played all matches in 1967 and 2 in 1974 and ended up picking 12 wickets at a high average of 58.08.

They were largely responsible for India's rise as a test team but in England, they lacked consistency.