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Starting 1959, India have played seven Tests at Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge, winning two, losing two and drawing three. Both of India’s victories at the venue came this century. In 2007, India won the second Test at Trent Bridge, which helped them clinch the series. During the 2018 tour, India’s solitary win in the Test series came here.
India’s highest run-getters at Trent Bridge
India’s most wicket-takers at Trent Bridge
India’s 2021 tour of England starts with the Trent Bridge Test on Wednesday. The match will also mark the beginning of the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). Ahead of the big match, let’s look at some of the iconic performances by the Indians at Trent Bridge.
1996: Sourav Ganguly dazzles with an all-round show
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have amassed 12,400 runs in partnerships in international cricket. In the all-time list of batting pairs, the duo find themselves in second spot after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayewardene. It was at Trent Bridge in 1996 where the prolific association began.
Coming fresh from a debut century at Lord’s, Ganguly continued his dominance at Trent Bridge. Along with Tendulkar, he shared a 255-run stand for the third wicket, with both slamming superb hundreds. Ganguly became only the third batsman to score two centuries in his first two Test innings since Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kallicharran.
Ganguly was also India’s best bowler in the Test, bagging a three-for. In the second innings, he and Tendulkar shared a quick 86-run stand, with Ganguly getting 48. The Test ended in a draw, but Ganguly grabbed all the headlines and became a sensation in international cricket. He bagged Player of the Match and also was India’s Player of the Series in his first-ever outing.
Brief scores:
India 521 (Sourav Ganguly 136, Sachin Tendulkar 177, Sanjay Manjrekar 53, Rahul Dravid 84; Chris Lewis 3/89) & 211 (Sourav Ganguly 48, Sachin Tendulkar 74; Mark Ealham 4/21) drew with England 564 (Mike Atherton 160, Alec Stewart 50, Nasser Hussain 107*, Mark Ealham 51; Sourav Ganguly 3/71)
2002: Virender Sehwag announces himself as a Test opener
Virender Sehwag was a middle-order batter and was asked to open in ODIs in 2001 to make use of the field restrictions. He found success. But Test cricket was a specialist’s place, and England is no place to experiment, considering the movements on offer.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright coaxed Sehwag to open at Lord’s. Reluctant at first, Sehwag opened and got a quickfire 84. He was asked to do the same at Trent Bridge, where the ball was moving around on the first day, and England were playing five seamers. Showing tremendous restraint, Sehwag batted beautifully for over four hours to craft his first Test century as an opener.
Over the years, he went on to redefine an opener’s role in Test cricket, making his name as one of the greatest openers in the longest format.
The big three of Indian batting – Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and Rahul Dravid – shone in the second innings to help India eliminate a chance of defeat. However, the best knock of the match was played by Michael Vaughan.
Trivia: The Test match also marked the debuts of Steve Harmison, Robert Key and Parthiv Patel. The Test also saw Rahul Dravid register his maiden hundred in England. He ended up scoring six in the country.
Brief scores:
India 357 (Virender Sehwag 106, Sourav Ganguly 68, Harbhajan Singh 54; Matthew Hoggard 4/105, Steve Harmison 3/57) & 424/8 (Rahul Dravid 115, Sachin Tendulkar 92, Sourav Ganguly 99) drew with England 617 (Michael Vaughan 197, Alec Stewart 87, Craig White 94*; Zaheer Khan 3/110, Harbhajan Singh 3/175)
2007: Zaheer Khan inspires India to history
India had barely managed to escape with a draw at Lord’s. They won a vital toss at Nottingham, and Zaheer Khan capitalized. Exhibiting exceptional swing-bowling skills, Zaheer’s four-for skittled England under 200.
The batters seized the opportunity. Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer added a 147-run opening stand. Skipper Dravid and Tendulkar added 97, followed by another 96-run between Tendulkar and Ganguly, both of whom fell to poor umpiring decisions.
The England contingent managed to infuriate Zaheer by welcoming him to the crease with spread jellybeans that were being thrown at him. The left-arm pacer responded with a five-for that guided India to their first win at the venue.
Tempers flared throughout the Test that India managed to seal. The next Test ended in a draw which meant India had won a series in England after 21 years. India haven’t won a series in England since.
Brief scores:
England 198 (Alastair Cook 43; Zaheer Khan 4/59, Anil Kumble 3/32) & 355 (Andrew Strauss 55, Michael Vaughan 124, Paul Collingwood 63; Zaheer Khan 5/75) lost to India 481 (Dinesh Karthik 77, Wasim Jaffer 62, Sachin Tendulkar 91, Sourav Ganguly 79, VVS Laxman 54; Chris Tremlett 3/80, Monty Panesar 4/101) & 73 for 3 (Chris Tremlett 3/12) by seven wickets
2011: Rahul Dravid stands tall amid the ruins
From 124 for eight, England recovered to 221, courtesy of Stuart Broad’s counterattacking 64. An injured Gautam Gambhir meant Rahul Dravid, at 39, would be India’s makeshift opener in his last tour to the country. He kept India’s chances afloat by countering a tail-up Broad with his fourth hundred in the country.
Dravid could have gone on and built on the innings but he ran out of partners and lost his wicket in a bid for quick runs. India did manage the lead, but England batted exceptionally in the second innings to nullify India’s chances.
The Test is best remembered for the Ian Bell run-out incident where India recalled the batsman after Tea, which earned MS Dhoni much praise but cost them the match. India lost the series 0-4 and also lost their No.1 Test ranking as well.
Brief scores:
England 221 (Stuart Broad 64; Praveen Kumar 3/45, Ishant Sharma 3/66, Sreesanth 3/77) & 554 (Ian Bell 159, Kevin Pietersen 63, Eoin Morgan 70, Matt Prior 73, Tim Bresnan 90, Stuart Broad 44; Praveen Kumar 4/124) beat India 288 (Rahul Dravid 117, VVS Laxman 54, Yuvraj Singh 62; Stuart 6/46) & 158 (Sachin Tendulkar 56, Harbhajan Singh 46; James Anderson 3/51, Tim Bresnan 5/48) by 319 runs
2014: Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s toil
The 2014 series between the sides started on a “poor wicket” as termed by the ICC. The pitch was so flat that both the side’s No.11’s – Mohammed Shami and James Anderson – registered their maiden Test fifties. They haven’t scored another ever since.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar even scored his maiden Test fifty on the surface and shared a 111-run 10-wicket stand with Shami. But it’s with the ball that Bhuvi made the headlines. He managed to garner some movement on a dead surface and picked up the only five-for in the Test. No other bowler even took a four-four as the Test ended in a draw. Bhuvi scored another fifty in the second innings of the Test.
Kumar starred in India’s Lord’s Test win. Despite a 1-0 lead, they squandered the advantage and lost the series 1-3. Bhuvi, however, remained one of the shining points from an otherwise disappointing tour.
Brief scores:
India 457 (Murali Vijay 146, MS Dhoni 82, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 58, Mohammed Shami 51; James Anderson 3/123) & 391 for 9 (Murali Vijay 52, Cheteshwar Pujara 55, Stuart Binny 78, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 63*; Moeen Ali 3/105) drew with England 496 (Sam Robson 59, Gary Balance 71, Joe Root 154*, Stuart Broad 47, James Anderson 81; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/82, Ishant Sharma 3/150)
2018: Virat Kohli wipes out the 2014 horrors
Virat Kohli had a horrific England tour in 2014, with James Anderson making him his bunny. There were questions asked about his ability to counter outswing. Kohli returned home and worked with Tendulkar on his technique.
While he kept piling runs across the world, he was determined to make it count in England in 2018, and as most great athletes do, Kohli managed to turn the tables. His 149 and 51 couldn’t prevent an India defeat at Birmingham. He had an off game at Lord’s, and now with 0-2 down, India had to win at Trent Bridge to keep the series alive.
Kohli’s 97 in the first innings helped India to a decent total. In the second innings, he ensured the target was sizeable courtesy of a hundred – his second in England. The hosts then encountered a dangerous Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled India to a memorable victory.
2018: Hardik Pandya’s rise as an all-rounder
If Kohli’s batting ensured India a good score, it was Hardik Pandya who ran through the English line-up in no time. At 86 for three after 24 overs, England looked in decent space trying to build an innings when Hardik removed Joe Root. He bowled just six overs and went at almost five an over but picked up five wickets that ensured India a 168-run first-innings lead.
Later in the second innings, Hardik slammed a run-a-ball 52 not out to maximize the lead in no time. His role wasn’t over yet. While the frontline bowlers attacked more in the second innings, Hardik did the job of containing and bowling very light lines and lengths. The buzz for the summer was on his counterpart Ben Stokes, but Hardik had his moment under the sun by dismissing the England all-rounder with the new ball to bring India to the brink of a famous win. India eventually sealed the Test in the first session of the final day.
Brief scores:
India 329 (Virat Kohli 97, Ajinkya Rahane 81; James Anderson 3/64, Stuart Broad 3/72, Chris Woakes 3/75) & 352/7 (Shikhar Dhawan 44, Cheteshwar Pujara 72, Virat Kohli 103, Hardik Pandya 52*) beat England 161 (Hardik Pandya 5/28) & 317 (Ben Stokes 62, Jos Buttler 106; Jasprit Bumrah 5/85) by 203 runs
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