India vs England 2021: India Find Themselves With a Rare Challenge in Their Home Domination

There is an uncanny resemblance to the way England has begun their 2021 campaign in India to their start in 2016. Joe Root recorded his fifth double hundred and with a brisk 82 from Ben Stokes took the visitors to a massive 555 for 8 by close of play on Day 2 in Chennai - in the process putting up England's third-highest score in the first innings in India.

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A little over four years ago in 2016, it was again Root and Stokes who along with Moeen Ali had helped England to 537 in the first innings after winning the toss and batting first in the series opener in Rajkot. It remains England's fourth highest score in the first innings in India. Virat Kohli, the skipper and Ravindra Jadeja had to face a few anxious overs on the final day to save that Test for India.

Like Rajkot, India find themselves with a rare challenge at home in Chennai after losing a crucial toss. India have been victorious in all the 12 home series they have played since February 2013. The last time they were beaten at home was, interestingly, by England in the winter of 2012. Since then, starting from the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in February 2013 till the home series against Bangladesh in November, 2019, not only have India remained unbeaten at home but won each and every series during this period of approximately 7 years!

India has won 28 of the 34 home Tests since February 2013, drawn 5 and lost just one solitary match in this time-frame - to Australia in the series opener in Pune in 2017.

Such domination at home has seldom been witnessed by any team in any era in Test cricket history and rarely has India been challenged by an opposition team at home during this period. England's 555 for 8 (and still counting) is the highest score by a visiting team in the first innings in India in this 8 year period beating the 537 set by them at Rajkot. England have, so far, played out 180 overs in Chennai - again, this is the maximum number of overs India has bowled to any visiting team in the first innings at home since February, 2013.

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India has bowled out the opposition for less than 250 on as many as 13 occasions out of the 35 first innings scores during this period. They have kept them to between 250 and 300 on 9 other instances. This basically implies that India have had the upper hand on as many as 23 of the 35 times the opposition has batted in the first innings in India since 2013. Only 12 times has a visiting team scored in excess of 300 in the first innings of which they crossed 400 on 7 occasions and 500 just twice (including the 555 for 8 in the ongoing Test).

But here is the more astonishing statistic. England had the upper hand in Rajkot and India had to fight to secure a draw. But the home team won 8 of the remaining 10 matches in which the opposition scored 300 or more in the first innings. The most astounding of these victories came against England in the fifth Test of the 2016 series also in Chennai. England had amassed 477 in the first innings. But India replied with a mammoth 759 for the loss of 7 wickets before declaring their innings - their highest total at home in Test cricket! KL Rahul registered 199 and Karun Nair a magnificent triple hundred. The visitors crumbled to the spin of Ravindra Jadeja in the second innings (7 wickets) and were bundled for 207. India won by an innings and 75 runs.

South Africa had replied to India's 502 with 431 in the first innings in Visakhapatnam in 2019 but were routed for 191 in the second to hand the hosts a thumping win by 203 runs. Michael Clarke won the toss and batted first in Mohali in 2013 - Australia notched up 408 but India bettered the score with openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan registering 150-plus hundreds. The hosts went on to win by six wickets.

England had put in another creditable first innings' performance in Mumbai in 2016 scoring 400 but Virat Kohli hammered a brilliant 235 to take India to 631. R Ashwin picked six in the second innings to bundle England for 195 giving India another inning's victory.

The template for India even when the opposition, on the rare occasions, has piled on a big first innings total in the last 7-8 years is to retort with an even bigger score and then bank on the spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja to do the damage in the second innings. India has the batting to pile on the runs and in quick time against the England attack, given their inexperience in the spin department. If they cross the England total and take a decent lead with a day to play, do not be surprised if Ashwin and even Nadeem come into their own on the final day in Chennai.

Talking about comparisons, after securing a fighting draw in Rajkot in 2016, India went on to record a crushing win by huge margins in the remaining four Tests of the series.

Will 2021 follow a similar template or does this England side have a little more in them to actually challenge India's unprecedented home domination?

A fascinating contest awaits.

• Ben Stokes
• India vs England
• India vs England 2021
• Joe Root
• R Ashwin
• Ravindra Jadeja
• Virat Kohli