England vs India, 2018: Birmingham – A nightmare of a Test venue for India

The 5-match Test series between England and India gets underway at Edgbaston in Birmingham which has been a nightmare venue for the visitors. India have featured in as many as six Test matches and failed to win even one game. In fact, they ended up on the losing side in five matches at this venue. With a loss percentage of 83.33, Birmingham stands out as the worst venue for India in Test cricket.

Among the venues where India played as many as five Tests, their loss percentage is the highest in Birmingham and at the Gabba in Brisbane. They lost five out of six Tests they played at both the venues and drew another game. Barbados (9), Manchester (9) and Lahore (7) are the other venues where the Indian team has played more than six Tests without a win thus far.

Another notable aspect during India’s losses at Birmingham has been the margin of defeats. They were defeated by an innings margin during 1974 and 1979 Test series while their last appearance at this venue in 2011 resulted in an innings and 242-run defeat. Alastair Cook scored 294 as England made a record total of 710/7 before bundling the visiting team out twice under 250. India went down chasing a 400+ total in their first match at this venue in 1967 and lost by eight wickets in 1996 despite Sachin Tendulkar’s fighting century.

The only time India manage to avoid a defeat at this venue was in 1986 during their victorious tour. They won the first two matches of the 3-match series to seal a series win with one game still to be played. Skipper Mike Gatting scored an unbeaten 183 as England posted 390 in their first innings after electing to bat first.

One of the eight Test matches in the history:

Team India didn’t have someone like Gatting who batted long but contributions from everyone in the batting line-up turned out to be crucial in the end. The visitors finished exactly on 390 in the first innings as England began their 2nd innings without a trail or lead. This was only the 5th Test match where both the teams scored same totals in their respective first innings. This feat has been replicated only on three more occasions in the 32 years since then.

England were bowled out for 235 at the start of the final day’s play and they set India a target of 236 runs. Openers Sunil Gavaskar (54) and Kris Srikkanth (23) got off to a steady start as they looked on course to a complete a series whitewash. Phil Edmonds wasn’t going to let his side go down 3-0 and he took a 4-wicket haul to reduce the visitors to 105/5 from 101/1.

At this point, Mohammad Azharuddin and Kiran More decided to play out the day rather than going for the win which would’ve been a risky bet. Azharuddin scored 29 from 106 balls while More scored 31 off 125 as they shared an unbeaten 69-run stand batting for 124 minutes. The pair scored 52 runs in the 23 overs after Tea break before the game ended in a draw. India were 46 runs away from completing a clean sweep at end of the game which was pretty much in picture had they decided to go for it.

For all the latest cricket news and other updates follow CricTracker.