2007: Ending The Hibernation of Two decades
It took India a further 21 years to achieve another Test series win on English soil. India’s third Test series win in England came in 2007. India clutched a 1-0 Test series win in the English summer.
Rahul Dravid was the wall and the captain, Sachin Tendulkar was swinging the willow, Zaheer Khan was rolling the ball on the field. A long-haired MS Dhoni was behind the stumps.
India barely managed to hold onto a draw in the first Test match against England which was played at Lord’s. England put up 298 in their first innings and in reply James Anderson’s 5/42 and Ryan Sidebottom’s 4/65 kept India to 201.
Kevin Pietersen’s 138 took England to 282 in the second innings, setting India a target of 380 to win. Dinesh Karthik scored a half-century, but England bowlers kept the pressure on Indian batting. In the end, MS Dhoni’s 79* and rain helped India save the Test match.
The second Test in Nottingham saw England make only 198 runs in the first innings, thanks to Zaheer Khan’s 4/59.
On the other hand, India totaled 481 runs in the first innings, with half-centuries from Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly.
England, however, amassed 355 runs in the second innings with captain Michael Vaughan making 124. The infamous jelly-bean incident had fired up Zaheer Khan, who picked 5/75 and 9 wickets in the match.
India was set a paltry target of 73 to win and Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer's 47 opening wicket stand led them towards victory by 7 wickets.
The third match at the Oval, saw Anil Kumble realizing his lifelong dream of scoring a Test match century. India batted first and put up 664 on the board.
A superlative Anil Kumble registered his maiden Test hundred, a 110*. Other top-scorers were MS Dhoni (92), Sachin Tendulkar (82), and Dinesh Karthik (91).
England replied with 345 with half-centuries from Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood, and Ian Bell. In turn, India declared their second innings on 180/6, setting England 500 runs to win the match and square the series 1-1.
The total was too much for England, who played for a draw as Paul Collingwood slammed 101 and the match ended with no winners. However, India registered their third Test series win in England by a margin of 1-0.
Dinesh Karthik conjured 263 runs and led the tally as the highest run-scorer in the series. Zaheer Khan earned the Man of the Series award for scalping 18 wickets. S Sreesanth assuredly partnered Khan in the series. The series unveiled the ultimate battle between the two nations.
