Flashback: India’s first Test win on English soil

In 1971, India managed to script a historic win at the Oval and it was the first-ever victory for the Indian side on the English soil. The Ajit Wadekar-led side will be remembered for a long time for doing the unthinkable and instilling huge confidence among the fans too. Having drawn the first two Tests, India had a huge opportunity to return to the country with a Test series win and they grabbed it with both hands.

The hosts opted to bat first after winning the toss and it paid off quite well with the second wicket partnership going past 100. Alan Knott was the top scorer in the innings with 90 for England as they ended up with 355 in the first innings. Eknath Solkar picked up three wickets for India and was the pick of the bowlers.

In reply, India made a decent batting effort and scored 284 in the innings which resulted to a lead of 71 runs for the England side. Half-centuries from Dilip Sardesai and Farokh Engineer helped the Indian side while Ray Illingworth ended up with a five-wicket haul for England.

In the second innings, England were bundled up for just 101 in 45.1 overs, thanks to an excellent spell of bowling from Bhagwat Chandrasekar who picked up six wickets for just 38 runs. Venkataraghavan’s two wickets were crucial and India needed 173 to complete a historic series victory on English soil.

In the final innings, India lost an early wicket with the dismissal of Sunil Gavaskar while Ajit Wadekar (45) and Dilip Sardesai (40) took their time to build the innings. Gundappa Viswanath scored an important 33 while Farokh Engineer took the country home with an unbeaten 28. The winning moment was quite remarkable and will be etched in the memories of the Indian fans for a long time.