England vs India: Top thrilling Test matches since 2000 – From Ishant’s Lord’s spell to Jurel’s grit in Ranchi.
The India-England Test rivalry has been one of the most intense and biggest, especially since the dawn of the 21st century. Recently rechristened as Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy, these teams have given us some memorable and riveting contests in the red-ball format.
As the start of a new tour beckons, we take a closer look at some of the closely contested Test matches these two sides have been part of in the last 25 years.
Here are the tales of four neck-to-neck encounters in Tests between India & England in the 21st century:
ENG vs IND, Lord’s Test 2014: India won by 95 runs
One of India’s memorable Test wins in overseas conditions came at the home of cricket, Lord’s, during their tour to England in 2014. To give a background, India had never won a Test match in a SENA country since they beat South Africa back in December 2010. In between, they faced series of 0-4 defeats in both Australia and England. Hence winning this Test match at Lord’s broke the shackles of overseas losses for India.
Coming to the game itself, it was a green wicket, and England rightly opted to field first. India had a decent start on a tricky surface as they had lost just two wickets for 73 going into lunch. However, they lost their way getting reduced to 7/145 and it was a superlative century (103) from Ajinkya Rahane that got them to a respectable total of 295.
England, in their response, fared little better as they got a 24-run lead and it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who led the charge by picking 6/82. Half-centuries from Murali Vijay (95), Ravindra Jadeja (68), and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (52) guided India to 342 in the second innings, setting a target of 319 for England.
India bowlers rocked the English top-order by picking wickets at regular intervals. Ishant Sharma in particular was devastating on the day as he snapped seven of the 10 England wickets to fall. The pacer was responsible for their batting collapse and ended up with stunning figures of 7/74, the best by an India bowler in England.
Read More: Flashback of India’s two victories at Leeds in 1986 & 2002
ENG vs IND, Birmingham Test 2018: England won by 31 runs
In what was one of the closest Test matches between the sides, England came up on the winning side, thanks to a fine all-round display by Sam Curran. Batting first, a captain’s knock by Joe Root (80) and a solid 70 by Jonny Bairstow put the hosts in a solid position (216/3), before a batting collapse reducing them to 287.
Then what followed was a stunning show of Test batting by the then India skipper, Virat Kohli, who almost single-handedly took India close to the lead with his extraordinary knock of 149. This innings was touted by many as one of the best by an India batter in England. But, the visitors still conceded a slender 13-run lead.
A much-better bowling performance by India followed by a fighting 63 lower down the order by Sam Curran took England from a precarious 87/7 to being bowled out for 180. Needing 194 to win the contest, India’s top order struggled except for Kohli (51). Any hope of resurgence shown by Hardik Pandya’s 31 was thwarted by the spell of Ben Stokes (4/40) as England won this thriller by 31 runs.
IND vs ENG, Hyderabad Test 2024: England won by 28 runs
In the first match of the 2024 series, we witnessed one of the greatest comeback Test victories, and arguably one of the greatest Test knocks by an English batter in India. The visiting team was brushed aside on the first day of the tour as they got bowled out for 246 in just under 65 overs.
Adding to their woes, they conceded a huge 190-run first innings lead and one would have thought this was the same old story for any visiting Test team. But in a stunning turnaround of fortunes, England were able to put brakes on India, thanks to an incredible knock by Ollie Pope. Struggling for runs coming into the series, Pope dominated the India pacers & spinners alike and fell short of a memorable double century by mere four runs.
His knock paved way for England to set a challenging fourth innings target of 231 runs. It proved to be more than enough as India fell to the debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley who picked 7/62 in the second innings. This gave them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
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IND vs ENG, Ranchi Test 2024: India won by 5 wickets
A couple of Test matches later, we witnessed yet another nail-baiting game and this time the calmness of youngster Dhurv came to the fore. England amassed a daunting 353 in the first innings, thanks to a stellar century by Joe Root (122) and crucial 58 lower down the order by Ollie Robinson.
The England bowlers backed up their batters show by producing a great bowling performance. They reduced India to 177/7 at one stage before Jurel (90) took over the center stage. Playing just his second Test, the wicketkeeper showed immense maturity as he batted well with the lower-order to take India past the 300-run mark (307).
Though India conceded a 46-run lead, the momentum was in their side, thanks to Jurel’s efforts and a splendid show by India spinners in the second essay kept England down to 145. The home team needed 192 runs to win the series and despite some hiccups, cool heads from Shubman Gill (52*) & Dhruv Jurel (39*) got them over the line by 5 wickets.
Read More: ENG vs IND, Tests, 2025: ‘Do or die’ assignment for Gautam Gambhir in red-ball format
