India's most memorable Test victories in England

It has been 86 years since India played its inaugural Test match at Lord's in 1932. They were humiliated in that series and till now, it has always been difficult for any Indian side to travel to England and win Tests.

India has played 63 Tests in England, winning only 7 and losing 35 of them. The Indian batsmen have always struggled on the green pitches of England, whereas the spinners do not get the ambient amount of turn, which has been India's headache over the years.

India had to wait 39 years for their first Test victory in England. Since then, whenever India won a game, it has been memorable for every Indian cricket fanatic. Here is the list of some of the most memorable Test victories for India in England.

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#5 Second Test, Nottingham, India tour of England, 2007

India won its third series on English soil in 2007

Five years after the famous victory at Leeds, India toured England again in 2007. The Indian team looked stronger this time after the first Test was drawn. The second Test was to be played at Nottingham. Indian skipper, Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to field first.

The English batting line-up collapsed against the swinging balls of Zaheer Khan. None of the English batsmen was able to score a fifty and Cook's 43 remained the top score of the innings. The English batsman were all-out for 198, with Zaheer Khan taking four wickets for India.

India's openers provided a century partnership with both Karthik and Jaffer completing their fifties.

Sachin, yet again got out in the nervous nineties, while Ganguly scored a strong 79. India was all-out for 489 with Panesar scalping four of the Indian batsmen.

England came into bat with a trail of 283 runs on board and showed some class resistance. The English skipper Vaughan went on to score his century. However, a lower middle order collapse caused England to lose their last eight wickets for 70 runs and England were bowled out for 355. Zak was the pick of the bowlers again with his five-wicket haul. With a small total of 73 to chase, India managed it quite comprehensively and took an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series.

#4 Second Test, Lord's, India tour of England, 2014

The 2014 win was a memorable one indeed

The wounds of 2011's 4-0 defeat against England were still fresh when India toured England in 2014.

Scrutiny going around was to see whether this Indian side, in absence of Sachin, Dravid, and Laxman, be able to perform well or not. Hopes were high on Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane as the replacement to the legendary trio. This was India's first tour to England in absence of Sachin and Dravid for almost three decades.

India had successfully managed to draw the first Test and now the proceedings were at Lord's. Winning the toss, Alastair Cook invited the guests to bat first. Indian top order scattered against the British bowlers and were reduced to 145-7. Looked like India would suffer another low total, but Rahane and Bhuvi came to India's rescue. They both added 90 runs before the latter was dismissed by Broad at 36.

Rahane completed his century and registered himself at the Lord's honour list. However, he gave away a loose catch to Jamie Anderson and went back to pavilion at the score of 103. India were bowled out for a respectable 295 runs.

Gary Ballance's century helped England put a negligible lead of 24 runs on India as Bhuvi struck with a 5-fer and became the second Indian in the match to register himself at Lord's honour list.

Coming in to bat in second innings, Indian openers gave a solid start. Murali Vijay played a crucial knock, however, missed his century by just 5 runs. Ravindra Jadeja along with Bhuvi made sure that India gives an almost unachievable total to the hosts as Jaddu finished his half-century. Both of them added 99 runs as India put on a target of 319 runs to England.

At the end of the day 4, it looked like the game was heading towards a draw. But, Ishant Sharma changed the course of the match single-handedly, taking 7 wickets and leading India to its second Test victory at Lord's. India won the match by 96 runs as England were bowled out for 223. Ishant's 7/74 remains as one of the most lethal spells by any Indian pacer in Test cricket ever.

#3 First Test, Lord's, India tour of England, 1986

Man of the Match, Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev led the Indian team in the tour of England, 1986. In the first Test itself, Kapil's team showed some resilience, clinching India's second only Test victory on English turfs.

Kapil won the toss and elected to field first on an overcast day. England was struggling at 98-4 against some extraordinary bowling by Chetan Sharma. At that time, Pringle joined Gooch and built a very solid partnership. Gooch went on to score a gritty century as both of them added 147 more runs on the board. The partnership was broken by Chetan Sharma as Gooch departed on the score of 114. Soon, the English team was bundled out for 294. Chetan Sharma was the pick of the Indian bowlers with the figures of 5/64.

English bowlers were not able to take Indian wickets in the bundle. A partnership of 40-50 was added for each of the wickets. Dilip Vengsarkar was the hero of the day for India, scoring 126 runs. He was helped on by Mohinder Amarnath's 69. Dilley picked up four Indian wickets including that of the little master. India added 341 runs and had an important lead of 47 runs in the first innings.

Batting in the second innings, England were bundled out at just 180 as Indian skipper, Kapil Dev managed to take 4 crucial wickets. Getting ( 40 runs) was the lead run-scorer for England in the second innings.

Chasing a total of 134 runs, India had a poor start, losing Krishnamachari Srikant at the score of 10. Soon, India were 31/2; however, Vengsarkar came to India's rescue again and added valuable 33 runs on the board. Kapil Dev finished off the game with a brilliant boundary and led India to its first ever Test victory at Lord's. He was also named the man of the match.

#2 Third Test, Oval, India tour of England,1971

India's first Test victory on English soil

Ajit Wadekar's men finished India's losing streak in England. After the first two Tests drawn, the guests were hosted at the Oval for the ultimate Test match. Even if India could manage a draw, It would be for the first time that they did not lose a series in England, however, Wadekar's man had some other plans.

After winning the toss, England decided to bat first and put on a strong 355 runs on the board with the help of wicket-keeper Knott's 90 and opener Jameson's 82. Eknath Solkar was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 3 wickets in his account.

Trailing against a huge lead, India lost early wickets. But, with the help of the fifties from Engineer and Dilip Sardesai, and a brilliant 47 from the skipper, India managed to score 284 runs.

English men came in to bat with a virtual 71 runs on the board but were demolished by some serious spin bowling of India's greatest spinner ever, BS Chandrashekhar. Chandra managed to scalp 6 wickets as England were all out for just a 101.

India chased down the total of 173 runs quite easily with valuable 45 runs from the skipper and a 40 from Sardesai. This historic test match is mesmerised, even after almost 5 decades, as one of the best overseas victories by India.

#1 Third Test, Leeds, India tour of England, 2002

The three pillars of Indian cricket

India moved to Leeds trailing the series 1-0. It was an important match as a defeat there could cost the series. Sourav Ganguly, the Indian skipper, won the toss and decided to bat first. What happened next, made the world witness the superpower of Indian middle order.

Batting first, India lost Sehwag very cheaply. Sanjay Bangar completed his half-century to stabilize the Indian inning. A brilliant partnership of 170 was broken by Flintoff as Bangar edged one to the keeper at a personal score of 68. However, this was just the beginning. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly went on to score some of the most gritty centuries by any visiting batsman in England. Dravid built the innings with 148, Sachin took the scoreboard ahead with his 193, while Dada scored a quickfire 128. India declared the innings at a score of 628/8.

Trailing 600+, England were bowled out for just 273 as Bhajji and Anil took 3-3 wickets respectively. Had not been Stewart's 70, England would have finished off pretty early. India enforced the follow-on as the hosts were still trailing by 355 runs.

In the second innings, the Brits fought back strongly with a century from the skipper. However, 355 was a big score to the trail. Kumble led the bowling attack with a 4-fer to bowl out England score of 310.

India won the Test by an innings and 46 runs. Till date, this remains the only instant where India won by an innings in England. Certainly, the best overseas victory for India ever!