4 batsmen whose Test century never resulted in a loss for India in England

For the past several years, England has proved to be one of the toughest teams to beat in the longer formats of the game, especially at home. Playing England at home has been proved to be one hell of a task.

Predominantly, it has been England's bowling which has reaped fantastic results for them in Test cricket. However, there have been many Indian batsmen who have faced the England bowling line-up at ease.

India has enjoyed a rich history of batsmen par excellence which includes the likes of Vijay Merchant, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and the list has no end.

Amongst all of these great cricketers, there have many other names who have proved to be quite instrumental in Test cricket for the Indian and enjoy some unique records in Test cricket.

Thus, in this article, we will look into 4 Indian batting greats whose Test centuries have never resulted in a defeat for India in England.

Note: All the batsmen with a minimum double of 500 Test runs and two half-centuries in England have been considered in the list.

(All statistics as on 22 July 2018)

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#4 Gundappa Viswanath

Gundappa Viswanath - India

Gundappa Viswanath, nicknamed as Vishy, was a genuine expert with the bat. His stroke-making, especially the late-cut effected with lumberjack-strong wrists, was zero less than eternal.

With nimble feet, he was equally good against pace and spin. He boasted to be one of the best batsmen in the history of cricket, especially in Tests. Having possessed an immense ability of acclimatization, he proved to be one of the best batsmen for India at overseas tours, predominantly in England. He enjoyed a good record in England.

Vishy played 13 Test matches in England and scored 858 runs at a modest average of 39.00 which also includes nine half-centuries and a solitary century with the highest score being 113. Also, Vishy is one of the very few batsmen whose Test centuries never resulted in a defeat for India.

#3 Kapil Dev

434 Test wickets, 5248 Test runs, and plenty of catches. These stats are enough to address Kapil Dev as one of the best all-rounders that India ever had. With the bat, he was an attacking lower-middle order batsman who could spell havoc with the bat in an age ere headgears, strong bats, or T20s.

Having scored at a strike-rate of 94.76 in Test cricket, the strike which many cricketers fail to achieve in shorter formats even today, The Haryana Hurricane was a threat to opposition owing to his remarkable strokeplay.

Having played 13 Test matches for India in England, Kapil amassed 638 runs at an average of 35.44 which also include four half-centuries and solitary century with the highest score being 110. Much like all other players on the list, Kapil's Test century never meant a loss for India in Tests in England.

#2 Vijay Merchant

Vijay Merchant - India Cricket Team

The Maharashtrian batting prodigy, Vijay Merchant, happened to be India's best Test batsmen in the history, especially in foreign conditions. He began his Test career as a middle-order batsman but shortly assumed the role of an opener and played at that position till the end of his career.

Vijay Merchant was the first Indian to hit a Test century in England. He played 6 Test matches for India in England and scored 527 runs at an astonishing average of 47.90 which also includes two half-centuries and two centuries with the highest score being 128. Also, his Test centuries in England never resulted in a defeat for India in England.

#1 Sourav Ganguly

India's Saurav Ganguly scored his debut Test century at Lord's

God of off-side, Sourav Ganguly, popularly known as Dada, has been India's finest Test batsmen, especially while touring England.

Ganguly had a glorious Test career. Ganguly made his Test debut in 1996 against England at Lord's. Ganguly was a batsman who combined allure with surgical precision in his dazzling strokeplay. He remains the only Indian player in the history of cricket to score his debut Test match century at Lord's.

Ganguly has been one of the rarest Indian players who relished to play against England. Having played 9 Test against England on English soil, Ganguly amassed 915 runs at a startling average of 65.35 which also included three hard-fought hundreds with the highest score being 136.

Also, as and when Ganguly scored these three centuries, India never lost a Test match against England in England.