The second test at Lord’s begins today on a note of heightened tension, as the International Cricket Council has charged England’s James Anderson over claims that he pushed and abused Ravindra Jadeja during the first Test. The England Cricket Board have filed a counter-accusation, alleging Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is at least as culpable in the incident.
India must recognise that history is not in their favour. England has a great record at Lord’s, not just against India but every team, barring Australia.
The first Test match at Trent Bridge started brightly but petered into a boring draw. Lord's is likely to be tougher. India’s win percentage here is a paltry 6.25%. Out of 16 matches played here, India has won only one – yes, that’s all – and that was almost 30 years ago, in 1986.
Further, as the table shows, India's record at Lord’s is close to worst among the top seven teams. Sri Lanka takes that dubious accolade, with zero wins at the venue, but the island nation has played only seven matches here, and drawn five. That’s actually not a bad record, all things considered.
But there are many positive memories for India at Lord’s. This is the ground where Vinoo Mankad (second Test, 1952 series) became the first Indian to score a century and take five wickets in an innings. Lord’s was also Dilip Vengsarkar’s favourite – he scored an astonishing 508 runs in 3 innings; average 72.57. To date, Vengsarkar is the only overseas player to score three centuries at Lord’s. Here’s a look at Vengsarkar’s crucial 102 in 1986 (via Starsports.com):
The Lord's test of the series in 1996 saw two Indian batsmen, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, make their debut and become stalwarts of world cricket India. And the moment that India finally became a force to be reckoned with in world cricket came at Lord's too, when Kapil Dev led a fiery team to the World Cup in 1983.
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India must recognise that history is not in their favour. England has a great record at Lord’s, not just against India but every team, barring Australia.
The first Test match at Trent Bridge started brightly but petered into a boring draw. Lord's is likely to be tougher. India’s win percentage here is a paltry 6.25%. Out of 16 matches played here, India has won only one – yes, that’s all – and that was almost 30 years ago, in 1986.
Further, as the table shows, India's record at Lord’s is close to worst among the top seven teams. Sri Lanka takes that dubious accolade, with zero wins at the venue, but the island nation has played only seven matches here, and drawn five. That’s actually not a bad record, all things considered.
But there are many positive memories for India at Lord’s. This is the ground where Vinoo Mankad (second Test, 1952 series) became the first Indian to score a century and take five wickets in an innings. Lord’s was also Dilip Vengsarkar’s favourite – he scored an astonishing 508 runs in 3 innings; average 72.57. To date, Vengsarkar is the only overseas player to score three centuries at Lord’s. Here’s a look at Vengsarkar’s crucial 102 in 1986 (via Starsports.com):
The Lord's test of the series in 1996 saw two Indian batsmen, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, make their debut and become stalwarts of world cricket India. And the moment that India finally became a force to be reckoned with in world cricket came at Lord's too, when Kapil Dev led a fiery team to the World Cup in 1983.
