Shubman Gill & Co. needs to do the Ganguly-Dravid encore on its 29th anniversary [Exclusive]

India versus England reeks of romance. You think India-Australia, and the words that come to mind are spite and fight. But cricket in the United Kingdom has the innate ability to transport you to lazy afternoons, to monochromatic stands, to historic scoreboards, to lush green settings, and to synchronised applause for quality cricket.

India begin their 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle in the UK. The five-match series assumes greater significance not just as one of the two tough away tours in India’s two-year calendar. But it has got a line drawn in the sand – the 1-3 humbling in Australia on one side, and an eye on future tours without the stalwarts who got washed up on the shores Down Under, on the other.

The Test retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin, all within six months, have left India in a pickle ahead of a challenging series. With the experienced Jasprit Bumrah prioritising workload management over captaincy ambitions, head coach Gautam Gambhir turned to Shubman Gill as the nation's fifth-youngest men's Test captain.

The 25-year-old will take over Kohli’s No. 4 slot, followed by his deputy Rishabh Pant. A debutant and a returnee after seven years are likely to fill up the two vacancies. The engine room, understandably, bears a fragile look but also holds the privilege of having no baggage and the freedom of doing it their way.

The first Test in Leeds beginning Friday, June 20, marks the 29th anniversary of Indian cricket being at an eerily similar crossroads. Shubman Gill and his boys can draw inspiration from what debutants Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid accomplished in the Lord’s Test, which commenced on June 20, 1996.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Jack Russell, who was Player of the Match, reminisced about the match that was to shape Indian cricket for years to come.

“I remember that game well because not everyone has the opportunity to score a hundred at Lord's and find yourself in gold letters on the Honours Board. Many far better players than me do not appear on it! I remember spending four and a half days out of five on the field of play,” the 61-year-old said from Gloucestershire.

After losing the Edgbastan Test by eight wickets, India had the hosts on the mat at 107 for five, with Ganguly accounting for Nasser Hussain and Graeme Hick.

“I remember having a conversation as I got to the wicket to join the late Graham Thorpe, whereby we sided with attack. The wicket was doing a bit and the Indian bowlers were making the ball move around. So it seemed like the best policy. My old Gloucestershire teammate Javagal Srinath was bowling exceptionally well. Graham Thorpe and I managed to put a decent partnership together,” Jack Russell explained.

The duo put on 136 runs for the sixth wicket. Even as Srinath castled Hick for 89, Russell took England to 344 and was the last man out on 124.

Sourav Ganguly came out to bat at No. 3 and looked at ease against the red Dukes ball. The cover drives, which later became a hallmark of his batting, were on full display. He was also quick to latch onto anything short, directed at his body. He punched pacer Peter Martin off the back foot for a boundary in front of square to bring up his maiden half-century.

He was joined by Rahul Dravid at No. 7 after Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Mohammed Azharuddin departed cheaply. Ganguly continued in his merry way and etched his name into history with a classic cover drive off seamer Dominic Cork.

"You could see from the start that they were both very talented players, who had the ability to go on and do great things,” Jack Russell, who played 54 Tests and 40 ODIs, exclaimed.

Ganguly walked off to a standing ovation from the Lord’s crowd after getting castled on 131 by Alan Mullally. Dravid, meanwhile, missed out on the coveted milestone by five runs as he chased a wide Chris Lewis delivery and nicked it to Russell. The 23-year-olds ensured the visitors won an 85-run first-innings lead.

Despite their impressive debuts, it was Russell who took home the Player of the Match award. The then 32-year-old scored a resilient 38 off 137 balls, batting with the tail, and forced a draw on the final day. Incidentally, it was Ganguly who saw the back of the England wicketkeeper.

Jack Russell, though, took with him another slice of history.

“I was given out by umpire Dickie Bird who was umpiring his last Test. So I happened to be the last batter he ever gave out in Test cricket,” he quipped.

He had special praise reserved for Srinath, who took five wickets at Lord’s and finished the three-match series with 11 scalps.

“Javagal Srinath was a good friend of mine, so it was enjoyable to try and pit my wits against him because he showed us at Gloucestershire what a top-class bowler he was,” Russell stated.

India drew the following Trent Bridge Test as Sourav Ganguly made it two-in-two and Tendulkar shone with 177 and 74.

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“Never write India off” – Jack Russell

Jack Russell scored 1897 runs from 54 Tests with six fifties and two centuries to boot

Not many are giving India a chance in 2025, 18 years since their last Test series win in England. The detractors don’t have a problem with Shubman Gill being appointed captain, but they seem to be unimpressed with a leader whose batting numbers don’t let him pull his weight in the side.

Gill's average of 27.53 in away Tests does little to boost his confidence. An average of 14.66 from six innings in England is his lowest in any country.

Interestingly, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, too, endured a treacherous path to their Test debut. While Dravid managed only 21 runs from four ODIs preceding the UK tour, the former was left out in the cold for four years after his debut in 1992. But they shut out the noise and focused on doing what they knew best.

11 of the 19 players in the current squad haven’t played a Test in England.

“Never write India off because they always have plenty of talent. If some are experiencing English conditions for the first time, they may take time to get used to it, but that doesn't mean they can't put in good performances. That is always possible,” Jack Russell told Sportskeeda.

The left-hander was also witness to Sachin Tendulkar’s first international hundred. He had saved the Old Trafford Test on the 1990 tour with a counter-attacking 119 not out from 189 deliveries. Set a mammoth target of 408, India were reduced to 189 for six. But Tendulkar and Manoj Prabhakar (67* off 128) steered them to safe waters courtesy a 160-run alliance.

“We discussed every player at times. But you could see that Sachin was a special talent, right from the start,” Russell recalled.

That a 17-year-old outperformed the likes of Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Kapil Dev, should serve enough inspiration for the 2025 batch. A hot summer in England, coupled with an inexperienced English bowling attack and Bazball-conducive pitches, would help their cause.

The Pataudi Trophy for India-England series was officially renamed the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy on Thursday, June 19. India’s highest run-getter in Tests against England, the iconic batter remains Jack Russell’s favourite memory of this historic rivalry.

“Watching Sachin Tendulkar bat from a yard behind him – the best seat in the house to study a genius at work. Nothing comes to mind other than I always enjoyed Sachin’s company, in particular,” he stated.

After playing 465 first-class matches and 479 List A games, Russell contributes to the sport through painting. What started as a pastime during rain interruptions in cricket matches, has become what he calls a “drug”. He is deeply passionate about the history of cricket and paints a notable figure every year. After painting Douglas Jardine last year, Ranjitsinhji made his canvas in 2025.

Jack Russell holds an exhibition every year at Chris Beetles Gallery in London. It is scheduled for July 8, two days out of the third Test at Lord’s.

Shubman Gill & Co. has a chance to form a picture that shouldn't need many changes in the coming years.

Incidentally, Virat Kohli also had a bumpy start to his Test career after debuting on June 20, 2011. And the last Test series India played without either Kohli, Rohit, and Ashwin, was the tour of England the same year. It seems only divine justice that the long-hailed ‘prince’ of Indian cricket is beginning his reign in the same country, on the same date.