Best Innings by an Indian batsman in England

[Harsh Thakor]

Today Indian cricket celebrates it's 42nd anniversary since it won it's first series in England.In this article list in my order of merit the best innings played by an Indian batsman in a test match in England. 1.Sunil Gavaskar's 221 at the Oval in 1979 Almost won a test match in a record 4th innings chase of 438 runs.Scored 221 runs in 442 balls with an absolutely flawless exhibition of batting.Executed almost every shot in the book,and dispatched every bad ball to the boundary. 2.Sandeep Patil's 129 not out at Old Trafford in 1982 Negotiated a strong English attack with ferocity of a tiger scoring 6 boundaries in a single over of Bob Willis to reach his hundred.Unleashed one of batting's greatest onslaughts in a single over of Wiilis.This innings combined audacity with great technical skill.Above all it saved the game for India who were placed in a precarious position at 25-3 ,needing 225 runs to avoid the follow on. 3.Dilip Vengsarkar's 102 not out at Leeds in 1986 Simply mastered the moving ball in conditions totally favouring seam bowling. Batted brilliantly with the lower order executing a great range of strokesand won the match and series for India. 4.Vinoo Mankad's 184 at Lords One of cricket's classics executed with great technical skill. 5.Nawab of Pataudi's 148 not out at Leeds in 1963 A classic where tiger simply devoured the English bowling in the most difficult conditions. 6.Rahul Dravid's 148 at Leeds in 2002 A flawless exhibition of match-winning batting.Mastered the conditions and bowling totally. 7.Sunil Gavaskar's 101 at Old Trafford Mastered the seaming condition s with the skill of a surgeon. 8.Kapil Dev's 89 at Lords in 1982 The most devasatating exhibition of hitting I have ever seen by an Asian batsman in England.Unleashed Herculean power like a bomber raiding an airbase. 9.Mohammad Azharuudin's 121 at Lords in 1990 A supreme exhibition of batting artistry. 10.Sachin Tendulkar's century at Trent Bridge in 1996 Displayed masterly brilliance in technique and strokeplay. 11.Kapil Dev's 77 at Lords in 1990 A devastating exhibition of hitting which averted the follow on. 12.Dilip Vengsarkar's 126 not out at Lords in 1986 Displayed great technical skill and mental resilience to bat with the tail and set up India's 1st win in a test match at Lords.

[G_B_]

Has to be Vengsarkars innings for me..... seen the footage and my dad says it was the innings that set the marker.

[Haarkarjeetgaye]

Agarkar 100 at lords

[saneindian]

Bhai Harsh Thakor, why do you start threads and never post again in those threads? Seen this repeatedly..would love to see you respond to comments in your threads from ICFers

[Sarkar]

193 at headingley by Sachin

[Raghav_12]

Bhai Harsh Thakor' date=' why do you start threads and never post again in those threads? Seen this repeatedly..would love to see you respond to comments in your threads from ICFers[/quote'] He is a thought leader. Initiate thoughts for others to chew on :)

[vvvslaxman]

Has to be Vengsarkars innings for me..... seen the footage and my dad says it was the innings that set the marker.

His 102 at Leeds was better than his 126 as the conditions were tougher.

[The Outsider]

Gavaskar's 221 Vengsarakar's 102 Dravid's 148 Tendulkar's 122 Don't think Tendulkar's century at Trent Bridge gets in the top 10 - his 122 mentioned above from the same series was much better.

[adi B]

^ pretty much in that order.ganguly`s 131 on debut was a classy innings as well