Top 5 greatest spells by an Indian bowler in England ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 Tests ft. Jasprit Bumrah

Team India's Test journey in the post-Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma era will begin with the five-match series in England, starting in Leeds on June 20. Despite the side's dominant run in the long format over the past decade, they have found the going challenging in English conditions.

India have not won a Test series in England since the famous 1-0 triumph in the 2007 tour under Rahul Dravid. Despite the overall disappointments, India have enjoyed several Test wins before and after the joy of 2007.

While the Indian batters have hogged the limelight in the build-up to most English tours, their victories have often stemmed from heroic performances by the understated bowlers.

On that note, let us recap the five greatest spells by Indian bowlers in Tests in England.

#5 Jasprit Bumrah - 5/85 @ Nottingham, 2018

Jasprit Bumrah bowled India to a famous victory in 2018 [Credit: Getty]

A top-five list for any bowling achievement without Jasprit Bumrah is like an ocean without water. The ace pacer has been arguably India's best Test cricketer over the past five years.

Yet, it was his maiden Test season in 2018 when Bumrah announced his arrival to the cricketing world with a match-winning performance on the England tour. With India trailing 0-2 in the best-of-five affair, the 31-year-old played his part in helping them secure a 168-run first innings lead. It helped India set the hosts a massive target of 521 for victory.

Yet, the home side was not ready to lie down, giving the seemingly impossible run-chase a proper go. However, Bumrah took the first step in derailing England's efforts by removing the legendary Joe Root for 13.

Despite the early wickets, England moved to 231/4 with a 169-run partnership between Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. Bumrah took over from that point, removing Buttler and the new batter Jonny Bairstow in back-to-back deliveries to effectively end the run chase.

He completed his five-wicket haul by dismissing Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad as India won by 203 runs to stay alive in the series.

#4 Chetan Sharma - 5/64 @ Lord's, 1986

Former Indian pacer Chetan Sharma is unfortunately remembered predominantly for the infamous final ball maximum conceded to Pakistan's Javed Miandad. However, the Punjab-born seamer produced memorable spells in Test cricket out of nowhere, which puzzled fans about his inconsistency.

The opening Test of the 1986 England tour at Lord's was such an instance when Sharma sizzled with the ball to win India the contest. After the visitors won the toss and bowled, the right-arm pacer destroyed the home side's top order, removing dangermen David Gower, Mike Gatting, and Allan Lamb for low scores.

Sharma also dismissed centurion Graham Gooch later in the innings for 114 en route to his outstanding figures of 5/64 in 32 overs. His heroics helped India restrict England to 294 and win the Test match by five wickets.

#3 Zaheer Khan - 5/75 @ Nottingham, 2007

India's last Test series win in England came in the 2007 tour when left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan manfully led the bowling attack. After India escaped with a draw in the opening Test of the three-match series, Zaheer came out all guns blazing in both innings of the second Test at Nottingham.

His four-wicket haul in the first innings helped India bowl the hosts out for just 198. However, the pitch flattened out in the rest of the game, resulting in India posting a massive 481 in their first innings.

Despite capturing a sizeable lead, the Indian bowlers had quite a task to bowl a formidable English lineup a second time. Yet, Zaheer carried the Indian attack by removing five of England's top six en route to match-winning figures of 5/75 in 27 overs.

His scalps included Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Paul Collingwood, and Ian Bell as India completed a seven-wicket win to take an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series.

#2 BS Chandrasekhar - 6/38 @ Oval, 1971

One of India's greatest spinners, BS Chandrasekhar, bowled the side to a famous win at the Oval in the 1971 English tour. The champion leg-spinner picked up two wickets in the first innings to restrict England to 355.

However, after India folded for only 284, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the visitors. With the three-match level at 1-1 and the final game on the line, Chandrasekhar produced one of the best performances in Indian cricket history.

He finished with incredible figures of 6/38 to bowl the hosts out for a paltry 101, leaving India with a run-chase of only 173. The visitors completed the task and won their first-ever Test series in England by a 1-0 margin.

#1 Ishant Sharma - 7/74 @ Lord's, 2014

There are no prizes for guessing that Ishant Sharma's Lord's spell in 2014 stands atop the best all-time bowling performances by an Indian in England. After a dull draw in the series opener, the two teams played to a push through three innings.

Chasing 319 for victory in the final innings, the hosts were comfortably placed at 173/4, with Ishant sitting on only two wickets. However, in an incredible turnaround in the final two sessions of the contest, the veteran pacer ran through the English lineup by picking up five out of the final six wickets.

He finished with the best-ever Test figures by an Indian bowler in England of 7/74 as India completed a memorable 95-run win.