India's 3 best performances in Tests in England

India playing away in overseas conditions has always produced some memorable results, albeit a few cherishable. Winning test matches in unfamiliar and hostile surroundings is quite a feat. Such results are the decisive inflection points in India's ascent to the top of world cricket.

Sometimes genius batsmanship, the other times an inspired fast bowling spell, and then quite a few times a display of all-around excellence produced by every member of the team. Such has been the story of some impressive test match victories against England, in England, and they are etched in the neurons of a cricket-obsessed individual like me.

London, 2014

India 295 (Rahane 103, Anderson 4-60) and 342 (Vijay 95, Jadeja 68, Bhuvneshwar 52) beat England 319 (Ballance 110, Plunkett 55*, Bhuvneshwar 6-82) and 223 (Root 66, Ishant 7-74) by 95 runs

Ishant Sharma, bowling short and aggressively, produced one of the most memorable spells in the history of Indian fast bowling. As India completed a 95-run victory, it ended a run of more than three years without an overseas Test victory and left England befuddled and bereft. India's only other win at Lord's came in 1986.

Ajinkya Rahane, en route his brilliant 103, established credentials as India's Mr. Consistent in overseas conditions. He punched, pulled, and timed all the way to his ton. Ishant's career has never quite turned out like that. He pounded life from the Lord's pitch with the old ball, reviving India's spirits as England descended into a self-destructive display of batsmanship. This was the Ishant of India's dreams - but for those who cared to look deeply enough, it was England assisted.

Nottingham, 2007

India 481 (Tendulkar 91, Ganguly 79, Karthik 77, Jaffer 62, Laxman 54) and 73 for 3 beat England 198 and 355 (Vaughan 124, Collingwood 63, Strauss 55, Zaheer 5-75) by 7 wickets

Zaheer Khan established himself as the undisputed leader of the Indian seam bowling attack. Following on from a successful county stint with Worcestershire in 2006, Zaheer was expected to make use of his knowledge of English conditions and lead an inexperienced bowling line-up. The then 28-year old completely lived up to those expectations as he finished with match figures of 9/128 to win India a memorable Test match.

England was bowled out for 198 in the 1st innings, with Zaheer, who took 4/59 from 21 overs, undoubtedly being the pick of the bowlers. India, in their reply, punished the Englishmen for failing to put up a big total on a flat pitch, as they racked up a massive 481. Trailing by 283 runs, England would've been aiming to bat for a day and a half in order to save the Test. But Zaheer thwarted their ambitions once again, as he produced an outstanding spell of 27-10-75-5 to bowl England out for 355. His spell meant that India merely needed a target of 73 in the 4th innings for the victory, which they ended up chasing with no fuss.

Leeds, 2002

India 628/8d (Tendulkar 193, Dravid 148, Ganguly 128) beat England 273 (Stewart 78, Vaughan 61) and 309 (Hussain 110, Stewart 47, Kumble 4-66) by an innings and 46 runs

The Indian performance was nothing short of magnificent. Seizing the opportunity, Sanjay Bangar and Rahul Dravid displayed praise-worthy application to put up a 150-plus second-wicket partnership. Bangar's grittiness and resolve were impressive.

As for Dravid, it was one of his finest knocks. He came in when the conditions were loaded in the favor of the bowlers and his determination and application showed the way to the remaining batsmen.

The scintillating partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly that followed had firmly wrested the initiative and must have rattled the Englishmen no end. Tendulkar's 30th Test ton was a true milestone.

Bowlers exercised almost complete mastery over the early batsmen. It was only when Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart got together that they seemed to lose the plot. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, in particular, gave the impression that their primary objective lay in making the batsmen play the wrong line and give away his wicket. The innings and 46 runs victory which ensued was just a reward for what was a true team effort from the Indians.

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