India vs England: History of Tests in India - Part 3 - (2001-02 to 2016-17)
In part three of the series we take a look at how the India vs England rivalry has shaped up on Indian soil in the 21st century.
India will take on England in a 4-match Test series starting February 5, which will be the first outing for Virat Kohli and his men on home soil since cricket resumed after the enforced break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
India recently beat Australia in Australia in a series for the ages and will have their tails up. Joe Root's England come into the series on the back of a 2-0 series sweep in Sri Lanka and will be up for the challenge.
India's rivalry with England is its oldest as the team played its inaugural Test against the English and the former colonial rulers were the first ever team to visit India as well.
INDIA vs ENGLAND 2021 - FULL SCHEDULE
This will be the 16th visit of the English team to Indian shores to play Test cricket. In 122 Test matches till date between the two teams, India have been victorious on 26 occasions while they have lost 47 times and 49 matches have been drawn.
India have won 7 series at home while England have triumphed on Indian soil on 5 occasions while 3 series have ended in a draw. India thrashed Root's England 4-0 in 2016. England's win in 2012-13 is the only time India has lost a Test series at home against any opposition in the last 16 years.
England in India - History of Tests on Indian soil Part 1
England in India - History of Tests on Indian soil Part 2
In the first part of our series we looked at England's tours to India from 1933-34 to 1963-64 and in part two we will looked at the series between 1972-73 to 1992-93.
Here we take a look at how the rivalry has shaped up in the 21st century.
2001-02: Ganguly's young Team India trumps Hussain's England
India's path breaking victory against Australia had instilled renewed confidence in a team which was still taking shape as several youngsters were given opportunity to establish themselves in the squad under the stewardship of Sourav Ganguly.
Near misses in Sri Lanka and South Africa meant the pressure was on the hosts when Nasser Hussain's England came calling. Harbhajan Singh continued his exploits on soil as he took a fifer in first innings of the first Test in Mohali. Wicket-kkeper batsman Deep Dasgupta slammed a fluent century while opening the innings while Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar played solid hands as India took a big lead. Anil Kumble was ruthless in the second innings as he snared 6 wickets to pocket the 'Man of the Match' award as India won by 10 wickets.
The remaining two Test matches ended in tame draws with runs flowing from Tendulkar's bat and both Kumble and Harbhajan adding to their wickets tally. Craig White and Andrew Flintoff showed sparks of brilliance for England but couldn't stop India from winning the series.
2005-06: Flintoff guides England to drawn series
India were a strong force at home and Andrew Flintoff's England had a task at their hands. But they came within 4 wickets of victory in the opening Test at Nagpur, thanks Matthew Hoggard's 7-wicket match haul and an unbeaten second innings century on debut by a young Alastair Cook.
But the tourists bowed to the brilliance of Anil Kumble in Mohali as the leg spinner picked up 9 wickets in the match to give India the lead in the series.
An Andrew Strauss century and a James Anderson 4-for helped the English secure a decent lead at Mumbai. Skipper Flintoff scored crucial half centuries in both inning as India were set a target of 313 to win the match and series.
With 9 wickets in hand, India had to see out the final day at the Wankhede Stadium. But a spirited bowling performance from Flintoff and little known off spinner Shaun Udal led to a batting collapse as England drew the series with a massive 212-run win.
2008-09: Sachin, Yuvraj win it for a wounded nation
The tour was affected by the horrific terrorist attack in Mumbai on November 26, which led to the English team returning home in the middle of the ODI series. But they returned in December to play a two-match Test series, which captain Andrew Strauss leading from the front like statesman.
Strauss scored centuries in both innings at Chennai as England set India a target of 387 runs to win the match. Sehwag's belligerence on the fourth evening raised India's hopes of a possible chase on the final day. Sachin Tendulkar took on the onus with an unbeaten century, aided superbly by Yuvraj Singh, as duo stitched a 163-run stand to take India to a memorable victory.
The second Test in Mohali ended in a draw as India wrapped up the series.
2012-13: Captain Cook leads from the front as Swann & Panesar breach the fortress
The underlying theme of the series was that of revenge as Dhoni's men were still smarting from the 0-4 mauling in England the previous year. Cheteshwar Pujara's double century set the foundation in the opening Test. Pragyan Ojha's left-arm spin accounted for 9 wickets on a deteriorating Motera track as India drew first blood.
Captain Alastair Cook had resisted with s superb century in the second innings at Ahmedabad and he carried the form to Mumbai where he slammed another ton, after the spin twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar had not allowed India a huge first innings total despite a Pujara century. But the real impetus came from the blade of the maverick Kevin Pietersen as he scored 186 in just 233 deliveries to give England a sizeable lead.
Panesar and Swann triggered a collapse as India were bowled out for 142 in the second innings. England chased down the 57-run target to win by 10 wickets.
The series moved to Kolkata and it England who dominated again. Anderson and Panesar stopped India in the first innings and a masterful 190 from Cook gave England a hefty lead.
The Indian batsmen cut a sorry figure yet against as England took the lead in the series with a 7-wicket win.
A flat track at Nagpur meant India couldn't force the issue in the decider as England completed a huge victory, their first on Indian soil in over two decades.
2016-17: Kohli's Team India begin march to the top with dominant 4-0 thrashing of England
By the time Joe Root led England to India for a four-match series, Virat Kohli had settled into his role as India's Test skipper and under him the plan was to use spin to the home team's advantage and avenge three consecutive series losses to England.
But against the odds, it was tourists who came close to victory in a high scoring affair in Rajkot, as India managed to hold on for a draw.
At Vizag, Kohli slammed and ton in the first innings and followed it up with a half-century to set the game for India. Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 8 wickets to give India the lead.
An 8-wicket win followed at Mohali as India's spinners Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav contributed with both bat and ball.
The series was wrapped up in Mumbai as Kohli showcased his class with a knock of 235. Centuries from Murali Vijay and Jayant Yadav gave India a big lead and the duo of Ashwin and Jadeja did the rest as India won by an innings and 36 runs.
In Chennai, Karnataka mates KL Rahul and Karun Nair putting on a show of batsmanship. While Rahul was dismissed for 199, Nair became India second triple centurion with an unbeaten knock of 303. England could never revive themselves from the shock as they lost by an innings and 75 runs.
Kohli was highest run-getter in the series with 655 runs while Ashwin (28) and Jadeja (26) complimented each other to pick up a bagful of wickets.
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