India is about to play England in a 5 match Test series starting June 20 at Headingley, Leeds. This is India’s first trip to England since 2022. The team has changed a lot, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not there but Shubman Gill is the new captain. He will have his task cut out in this series. Let’s see how the last 5 captains fared in their first match in England.
Sourav Ganguly – 2002
Ganguly is one of India’s greatest Test captains. In his first tour to England he made sure the team fought hard. They lost the first Test at Lord’s but drew the second and won at Headingley comprehensively. The series ended in a 1-1 draw. Ganguly had a poor start to his first match, scoring just 5 runs in both innings.
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Rahul Dravid – 2007
India’s last Test series win in England was in 2007 under Rahul Dravid’s leadership. Out of three matches India won one and the other two were draws. Dravid played a key role and in the first Test at Lord’s the game was hard-fought but ended in a draw. He scored 2 and 9 in that match.
MS Dhoni – 2011
In the summer of 2011 MS Dhoni led the world champion team to England where expectations were high. Unfortunately it turned out to be a tough tour and India was whitewashed 0-4. In the first match at Lord’s India lost by 196 runs and Dhoni scored 28 and 16.
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Virat Kohli – 2018
Kohli’s team came into the 2018 tour after a good performance in South Africa but it was a tough outing for him as captain. The team lost the series 1-4. In the first match at Edgbaston India lost but Kohli scored 149.
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Jasprit Bumrah – 2022
Bumrah was captain for the first time in Test cricket in the 2022 series. India was leading 2-1 against a struggling England team. But England chased down 378 and put pressure on Bumrah. Though it was his first Test as captain he took 5 wickets but not a great captaincy show.
