5 times India won an overseas Test despite conceding the first innings lead

#1 Lord’s – 2014

Ishant Sharma finished with 7/74 as India got their first Test win at Lord’s after 28 years.

In 2013 and 2014, India were playing away from home for quite a while. They had toured South Africa and New Zealand but were unsuccessful on both those tours which just extended their lean phase overseas (which started in 2011).

In 2014, the England tour got off to an encouraging start for the visitors with India managing to hold onto to a draw in the first Test. When the action shifted to Lord’s for the second Test, a green carpet (a very grassy and green pitch) was rolled out.

England had absolutely no hesitation in bowling first on a surface which had a lot of moisture and grass on it. India were in some early trouble as they were reduced to 145/7. However, a counter-attacking 103 from Ajinkya Rahane and a calm 36 from Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India get to 295 in their first innings.

India did well with the ball, but Gary Balance with a fine 110 and some important lower-order contributions ensured England sneaked past India’s total and finished with 319.

Trailing by only 24 runs, India were off to a decent start in the second innings. But wickets at regular intervals pegged India back as they slipped to 235/7. With a lead of only 211 at that stage, the game was slipping away. However, a counter-attacking 68 from Ravindra Jadeja and another calm innings from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (52) helped India set England a target of 319.

England in their run-chase lost their way early as they were reduced to 72/4. But Joe Root (66) and Moeen Ali (39) revived England’s hopes with a timely century stand for the fifth wicket. After the 101-run stand, Ishant Sharma produced a memorable spell bouncing out the English batsmen to help India win the game. Ishant finished with 7/74 as India got their first Test win at Lord’s after 28 years.

Brief Scores: India 295 (Rahane 103, Bhuvneshwar 36, Anderson 4-60, Stokes 2/40) and 342 (Vijay 95, Jadeja 68, Bhuvneshwar 52, Stokes 3/51, Plunkett 3/65) beat England 319 (Ballance 110, Plunkett 55*, Bhuvneshwar 6-82, Jadeja 2/46) and 223 (Root 66, Ali 39, Ishant 7-74, Shami 1/33)