Rarely is a series between two nations called differently based on the host nation but India-England test series lifter are awarded trophies based on the host.
In England, the Pataudi Trophy, named after the famous Pataudi family which produced the father-son duo and two very famous cricketers, Iftikhar Ali Khan and his son Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, is presented to the conqueror of India-England series. The trophy was introduced by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 2007 when India toured England to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India-England test ties.
In India, it’s the Anthony De Mello Trophy. This trophy was instituted in 1951 when England toured India officially for a test series (5 matches). The trophy was named after Anthony Stanislaus De Mello, an Indian cricket administrator and one of the founders of BCCI. The trophy is awarded to the winner of England-India test series held in India.
India Vs England Historical Rivalry
After achieving the honour badge of the 6th cricket playing nation, India toured to face Douglas Jardine’s England side in 1932. In his only test match at Lord’s, Indian team led by C.K. Nayudu (first Indian captain), lost the match by ten wickets.
In 1933-34, England came to India and defeated the host nation by 2-0 in 3 match series. Both teams have played a few other bilateral test series.
Meanwhile, the most significant turnaround happened when the Indian team created history under Vijay Hazare’s captaincy in 1951-52 test series. They beat the visitors in last test match of four test match series by an inning and eight runs. The match was played in Chennai, the same venue where the first match of India-England upcoming series will be played.
Records
In a total of 33 series, 122 matches have been played between these two giants where the Indian team has been victorious on 26 occasions while England has won 47 times and 49 matches ended as a draw. Historically, India has had the upper hand over England in test matches on the home field, although not so convincingly. The Indian team won 19 matches and faced defeat on 13 occasions, and 28 matches ended up in a draw.
Record of most runs overall in India’s bilateral test series is held by the former Indian captain, Sunil Gavaskar, who scored 1331 runs in 39 matches. He holds the most 50s, as well as 100s, followed by the former England captain Alastair Cook, Cheteshwar Pujara and MD Azharuddin.
India’s jewel wrist-spinner has taken most wickets, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar who has taken 64 wickets in 23 matches. Wisden cricketer of the year (1972), Bhagwat also holds the record of most wickets haul, i.e. 6 wickets.
Record of best spell in India vs England bilateral series played in India is held by Vinoo Mankad who had a famous stretch of 8/55 in 1951/52 series. Record of best average 16.79 do tag along. The highest run chase was on the same venue as Chennai, where the first match of the series will be played at 387 runs for registering a famous win.
Upcoming Series
Due to COVID-19 outbreak and a nationwide lockdown, cricket will resume on home soil almost after a year. Matches will be played under strict and stringent rules regulations with biobubble security. India will face England in all three formats in this historic game, kicking off with a test match in Chennai from 5th February.
In red hot form, both sides will be itching to stamp their authority in the series and be eyeing to get into the final world test championship inaugural season to play against New Zealand. England wiped out Sri Lanka with 2-0 recently and will surely look to repeat their performance here as well.
This English side has shown its consistency in South Asia in their last series. The inclusion of all-rounder Ben Stokes and pace battery Jofra Archer who was out in the Sri Lankan series due to rotation policy will surely bring more potential to their side.
Joe Root is in top form. He just scored 426 runs in his four innings against Sri Lanka including a doubleton. He holds the record of most runs scored by a current English batsman against India, i.e. 584 in 6 matches, followed by all-rounder spinner Moeen Ali who has 381 runs in 5 matches. England’s lethal pace attack with a trio of Anderson-Broad-Jofra won’t be easy to face.
The Lancashire legend Jimmy Anderson is sharper than anyone else in their long history. He holds the record of most test wickets in India-England bilateral face-off, i.e. 99 in 24 matches. The visiting team’s spin attack also looks sharp with the young pair of Dom Bess and Jack Leach. They will be playing their maiden tests in India. They have taken 23 wickets together in Sri Lanka earlier. Experienced Moeen Ali will accompany this young spin pair.
Going into the series, India will be oozing confidence with their recent historic series triumph which includes famous GABA win where the kangaroos were undefeated since 1988. Indians would be eager to face England in their den. They look stronger and confident after Virat Kohli is coming into the series fresh from the paternity break.
The Indian captain who went without a ton last year will be hoping to kick start a new year with a bang while looking at top run-getter in both the teams’ current squad. Virat Kohli has scored 843 runs in 9 tests vs England in India. Along with him, young Shubman Gill who showed his consistency and attacking intent in the last series against Australia is also part of this squad followed by Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh pant and others.
With Bumrah and Ishant coming back, pace bowling seems to have strengthened. Bowling all-rounder R. Ashwin, who holds the record of highest wickets in this current squad of India vs England matches, will be taking charge of spin bowling along with Kuldeep, Sundar and Axar Patel. At the same time, Jadeja misses out this series due to injury.
During the face off, India had a superiority over England and even cricket experts have predicted the series result in India’s favour when host will try to repeat result of last series 2016/17 where visitors had been whitewashed by 4-0 and Indian side made the highest total at home 759/7 which included triple Ton from Karun Nair.
Squad/Schedule/Venue/Telecast
India – Virat Kohli (C) Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel,
England – Joe Root(C), Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.