Indian cricket team becomes worst travellers to England post Lord’s thrashing

India’s win-loss record in England has been somewhat of a blot on their Test record. Out of the 59 Test matches they have played on English soil, they have won just six and that is not a good statistic for any top Test-playing nation.

The situation gets worse when we consider the last decade as the Indian cricket team continued to struggle away from home and with just one win from 11 matches, their record has being nothing short of abysmal.

The ongoing Test series is a perfect example of India’s struggles when it comes to adjusting to the English conditions. The batsmen failed to perform in the first Test at Edgbaston and if it was not for VIrat Kohli’s fighting knock, the victory margin would have been much more than 31 runs.

However, the second Test match did not prove to be that lucky for the visitors as they were bundled out for less than 150 in both innings. The loss also meant that India now have the highest number of losses (9) in the last decade when it comes to Test matches in England.

They are one ahead of Australia (who have played four Test matches more than them). It is quite shocking to see the top-ranked team in the world struggle some badly in England while World No. 7 Pakistan are at the other end of the spectrum with four wins from ten matches.

The solitary win for India came in 2014 when brilliant performances from Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar guided them to success at Lord’s. But, that was just an anomaly considering their trend in England and with 0.11 percent win percentage, they are just better than Bangladesh – a team who have played and lost two Test matches in England.

A deeper look at the numbers shows us that the place where India are surprisingly lacking in England is their batting. With an average of 24 per wicket, India have failed to come out with solid partnerships and by comparison, Australia and South Africa have averaged 34 and 33, respectively.

The Indian cricket team came into the England series at the back of a successful home season where they lorded over most of the opponents. However, the performances have been quite below-par in the ongoing series till now and the numbers are proof of how badly India need to improve their game against England.

First Published: Aug 13, 2018 15:50 IST