Virender Sehwag, who is yet to fully recover after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, has made it to 17 men India squad for the Test series in England, but will miss the first two weeks of the tour to give him time to recuperate further. Sachin Tendulkar returned to the squad after skipping the West Indies tour to rest, while Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth made comebacks from injury breaks. Yuvraj Singh, who missed the West Indies tour with a chest infection, also forced his way back into the Test plans following his excellent performance in the World Cup. The tour begins with a three-day warm-up match on July 15, with the first Test starting on July 21 at Lord’s.

India’s tour to England: Past Review

Now, let us see the history of India’s victorious tours to England: Although Test matches between England and India did not begin until 1932, relations between the two countries go back much further than that. In 1888-89 GF Vernon took a side to India, and in 1892-93 Lord Hawke headed another tour. Indian sides also visited Britain before the first official series.

Also Read: India Tour Of England 2011 – Complete Schedule

1971 England 0 India 1 Drawn 2: England had no answer to India’s three-pronged spin attack of Bishen Bedi (11 wickets), Chandrasekar (13) and Venkataragahavan (13) who caused problems in all three Tests. On the tour as whole, these three, plus Erapalli Prasanna, took 197 of the 244 wickets to fall. But at The Oval, India chased 173 with four wickets in hand despite surrendering a first-innings deficit of 71. Chandrasekar took 6 for 38 to bowl England out for 101 and so win the match and the series, and so spark massive celebrations back home.

1986 Tests: England 0 India 2 Drawn 1 & ODIs: England 0 India 2:  India toured early in the summer – as they won the one-day Texaco Trophy and beat England convincingly in the Tests. India started the three-Test series with their first win at Lord’s, Vengsarkar scoring a hundred there for the third successive time. Any thoughts that had been a one-off were dispelled by India’s crushing 279-run win at Leeds where England only managed 102 and 128. The third Test at Old Trafford was the only close one, and even then India ended in the stronger position.

2002 Tests: England 1 India 1 Drawn 2 & ODIs: India 2 England 1: A see-saw four-Test series ended square, but not before both sides had enjoyed periods of dominance. England got off to a solid start with a fairly comprehensive win at Lord’s where their batting held firm after India’s first-innings had let them down. The second Test at Trent Bridge was another high-scoring match, England making 617 (Michael Vaughan 197). The series came alive at Headingley when India amassed 628 for 8 – hundreds from Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly – and romped to an innings victory. The series decider at The Oval ended with a washed out last day, but the match had been decided by a perfect pitch as both sides passed 500. In the one-day NatWest series which preceded the Test, India won a remarkable final, scoring 326 for 8 to win with two balls to spare, and to do so after slumping to 146 for 5.

2007 Tests: England 0 India 1 & ODIs: England 4 India 3: India secured their first series win in England since 1986, thanks to a compelling victory in the second Test at Trent Bridge, and a large slice of luck in the first at Lord’s, where bad weather swept in on the final day to thwart England’s victory surge. The third Test was drawn on a featherbed at The Oval, in a match notable for Anil Kumble’s maiden Test hundred, 17 years and 118 Tests after his debut at Old Trafford in 1990. The man of the series, however, was Zaheer Khan, whose deadly left-arm swing from around the wicket. England did, however, hit back with an impressive 4-3 win in the seven-match ODI series that followed. Dimitri Mascarenhas’s five sixes in an over from Yuvraj Singh was the highlight.

The end of the tour marked the beginning of successful era of Indian Cricket under MS Dhoni. Now, India is No. 1 in Test Cricket and should play to its caliber and strength. And emerge victorious in England tour 2011.

Tags: England, India, Indian Cricket, MS Dhoni, Test Cricket, Test Series