England were by far the superior team till the 1970s, but in the last three decades India have had the edge

S Rajesh20-Jul-2011Only four pairs of teams have played 100 Test matches against each other, which means the England-India combination will become the fifth when they take the field at Lord’s on Thursday. For England, this won’t be a new experience – they’ve already topped the 100 mark against three other teams – but this will be India’s first instance of 100 Tests against an opposition. They’ll thus join four other teams – England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa – to play 100 or more Tests against at least one opponent. Next in the list is New Zealand, who have played 94 Tests against England.The overall numbers show that England have been the dominant team, but India have closed the gap over the last three decades: since 1980, India have a 12-8 advantage in 42 Tests. However, before 1980 England were clearly on top with a 26-7 record in 57 matches, which means India still have some catching up to do.The other number that stands out in England-India matches is the high percentage of drawn games – the overall draw percentage in Tests between these two teams is more than 46%, which is more than twice the percentage when Australia play West Indies.India have always boasted a strong batting line-up and a relatively weak bowling attack, which explains the draw percentage. In the early years England were clearly superior and hence India were unable to put up much of a fight – in the first 24 Tests they won one, lost 15 and drew eight – but since then the draw percentage has increased significantly: in the 1980s, ten out of 18 Tests between these teams was drawn, while it was four out of nine in the 1990s and eight out of 15 in the 2000s.

The home and away details further show how much India have improved over the last few decades. Out of the first 29 Tests they played in England, India lost 19 and won just one; in 19 Tests since 1980 they’ve won and lost four each. At the same time, their home record against England has also improved, with eight wins and four defeats in the last three decades.

The batting and bowling numbers obviously show that England were dominant till the 1970s, but what’s surprising is the fact that till the 1950s, Indian batsmen scored almost as many hundreds as their England counterparts. That’s also partly because India batted their two full innings far more often than England did, but even so their rate of converting fifties into hundreds was impressive, and much better than England’s in that period. Since 1980 there’s little to choose between the two teams, though India sneak ahead in terms of averages.

The batting and bowling starsThe three leading run-scorers in England-India Tests are all Indians, as are five of the top six, but in terms of averages England take the honours: with a cut-off of 1000 runs, the top three are all from England. The amazingly consistent Ken Barrington had 12 fifty-plus scores in 21 innings, while Michael Vaughan had an outstanding series in 2002. More surprising, though, are Ian Botham’s numbers: his overall batting average was 33.54, but against India he more than doubled it, averaging 70.64 and scoring five hundreds in 14 Tests; against no other side did he average more than 41.Botham played three full series and the Golden Jubilee Test against India in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and was a star each time. In the home series in 1979, he averaged almost 49 with the bat and less than 24 with ball; in the Jubilee Test he singlehandedly won England the game, scoring 114 and taking 13 wickets in the match. In the six-Test series in India in 1981-82, Botham the batsman was immense, scoring 440 runs, and in the return series in 1982, he was even more unstoppable, scoring 403 in just three Tests at an average of 134.33, his best batting performance in a series.The best average among the Indians is Sachin Tendulkar’s 61.42. In 24 Tests, Tendulkar has scored seven centuries, which is the most by a batsman in England-India Tests. With four more Tests coming up against England, Tendulkar has opportunities to further swell that number.Tendulkar is also one of the three leading scorers in these Tests, but the two others – Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath – both played plenty of matches to achieve those numbers. Gavaskar needed 38 Tests to score 2483 runs – compared to Tendulkar’s 24 for 2150 – and averaged only 38.20, which is well below his career average. Viswanath’s average was similar – 37.60 in 30 Tests. In nine series against them (excluding the Jubilee Test), only twice did Gavaskar average more than 50, while five times he averaged less than 30.

The numbers for bowling show a similar trend: the top four wicket-takers are all Indians, but the best averages belong to England’s bowlers. The two Indian legspinners, BS Chandrasekhar and Anil Kumble, are the only ones with more than 90 wickets, with Chandrasekhar having the slightly better average. Bishan Singh Bedi had a sub-30 average too for his 85 wickets, but Kapil Dev averaged 37.34.Kapil’s battles with Botham in the 1980s are well documented, and while Kapil the batsman had strong numbers against England, averaging 41.06, his bowling stats were less impressive: in the seven series he played against them, four times he conceded more than 35 runs per wicket. Botham, on the other hand, had a bowling average of 26.40 against India and put in a couple of particularly memorable performances, none of which bettered his 13 for 106 in that Jubilee Test.With a cut-off of 40 wickets, though, the best averages belong to England bowlers who had opportunities to bowl at Indian batsmen in the 1940s and ’50, when the Indians were largely clueless in overseas conditions. Alec Bedser and Fred Trueman devastated the Indian batting line-ups in three series in 1946, 1952 and 1959, taking a bagful of wickets at sub-15 averages. India’s finest from that era was undoubtedly Vinoo Mankad, who averaged a very creditable 23.12 for his 54 wickets. In the Lord’s Test of 1952, he delivered what remains one of the finest all-round performances in Test cricket, scoring 72 and 184, and taking 5 for 231 off 97 overs.

A break-up for pace and spin illustrates the tradition strengths of the two teams. India may boast a fairly strong pace attack now, but for most of their time in Test cricket spin has been their strong suit, and it shows in the numbers below. Similarly, pace bowling has always been England’s strength, which is illustrated by the number of wickets taken by their fast bowlers. (Click here for more England v India stats.)