India National Cricket Team vs England Cricket Team Timeline: The Complete History

The India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline spans over 90 years. It begins with a single Test at Lord’s in 1932 and runs through a 6-run thriller at The Oval in 2025. No two teams have shaped Test cricket’s history quite like these two.

Table of contents

• Quick overview table
• Complete timeline (1932–2025)
• Head-to-head records
• Records and statistics
• Player battles
• FAQ

Quick overview

Complete timeline

1932 — The beginning

India’s first Test match

• Date: June 25–28, 1932
• Venue: Lord’s, London
• Captains: CK Nayudu (India), Douglas Jardine (England)
• Result: England won by 158 runs

India’s debut in Test cricket. CK Nayudu top-scored with 40 in the first innings — a respectable showing from a team playing its maiden Test. England posted 259, India replied with 189 and 187 chasing 346.

Historic for obvious reasons: this was the moment India joined the Test cricket club. The match lasted 3 days. England were a far more experienced side, and it showed.

1952 — India’s first Test victory over England

India had played 24 Tests against England before winning one. The wait ended in Madras (now Chennai), February 1952.

Vijay Hazare captained the side. Vinoo Mankad took 8 wickets across both innings. England were bowled out for 266 and 183. India won by an innings and 8 runs — their first-ever Test win in this rivalry.

It took 20 years. But it arrived.

1961–62 — First home series win

India won their first-ever home series against England, 2–0. Nari Contractor captained. Chandu Borde and Polly Umrigar were the key run-scorers. The win confirmed India as a genuine home force.

1971 — The series that changed everything

Ajit Wadekar took India to England and did something no Indian captain had managed before: won a Test series on English soil.

The decisive match came at The Oval. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar took 6/38. Farokh Engineer and Dilip Sardesai did the batting. India won the Test by 4 wickets, sealing a 1–0 series win.

Sunil Gavaskar was 21. It was his first England tour. He scored 144 in the only Test India needed to win.

This series is still remembered as the moment Indian cricket grew up.

1986 — Kapil Dev’s England tour

India under Kapil Dev won a Test series in England for the second time — and their last until 2007. They won 2–0. Dilip Vengsarkar scored 3 centuries in 3 Tests at Lord’s across his career, becoming the first overseas player to do so.

1990 — Azharuddin and a young Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar made his England debut at 17. He scored 119 not out at Old Trafford — his first Test century. Mohammad Azharuddin was in brilliant form throughout.

England won the series 1–0. But nobody who watched Tendulkar that summer forgot it.

2002 — NatWest Series Final

The most famous India vs England ODI. Ever.

England set 326 at Lord’s. India needed a miracle. At 146/5, the match was done. Then Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh put on 121 for the 6th wicket. India got home with 2 wickets and 3 balls to spare.

Sourav Ganguly took his shirt off on the Lord’s balcony. That image went around the world.

2007 — India win in England

Rahul Dravid’s India won a Test series in England 1–0. The victory came at Trent Bridge, where Zaheer Khan took 5 wickets. It ended India’s 21-year wait to win a series in England.

2011 — England’s 4–0 whitewash

England were the No.1 Test team in the world at this point. They demolished India 4–0 in India. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Graeme Swann were unplayable. It remains India’s worst home series defeat.

2012 — England win in India

England won a Test series in India for the first time in 28 years, 2–1. Alastair Cook scored 562 runs across 4 Tests. Graeme Swann was relentless. A legitimate surprise result.

2014 — Kohli emerges, but England win

England won 3–1 in India. Virat Kohli averaged only 13.40 across 5 Tests — a rare slump that England exploited with James Anderson’s swing.

2018 — Kohli’s best England tour (that still ended in defeat)

Virat Kohli scored 593 runs at 59.30. He averaged 50+ in England for the first time and scored centuries at Edgbaston and Southampton.

England still won 4–1. The pace battery of Anderson, Broad, and Sam Curran proved too much for the Indian middle order. Anderson dismissed Kohli 3 times. But Kohli’s batting in this series was genuinely special.

2021–22 — Five Tests across two summers

The series started in 2021 and finished in 2022 after COVID delays.

Lord’s 2021: Mohammed Siraj’s 4/32 bowled England out for 120. India won by 151 runs.

Oval 2021: India won by 157 runs. Shardul Thakur scored a half-century from No.8.

Edgbaston 2022: England won by 7 wickets chasing 378. Ben Stokes and Joe Root put on 269. India led 2–1 going in but lost the final Test.

Series ended 2–2 with one match (Old Trafford 2021) abandoned after India’s COVID outbreak. England took that as a forfeit in most official records.

2022 — T20 World Cup semi-final

England beat India by 10 wickets at Adelaide. Alex Hales scored 86 not out. Jos Buttler made 80 not out. India’s total of 168 never looked enough once those two got going.

India went home. England went on to win the tournament.

2023 — ODI World Cup

India beat England by 100 runs in Lucknow. Mohammed Shami took 4/22. India were dominant throughout. They went on to reach the final before losing to Australia.

2024 — England tour of India (Tests)

England went to India with their Bazball philosophy. Ben Stokes called it the “hardest place to win.”

They had a point early: England won the 1st Test at Hyderabad by 28 runs, helped by Ollie Pope’s 196 and debutant Tom Hartley’s 7/62.

India then won 4 in a row. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 712 runs in the series. James Anderson took his 700th Test wicket, becoming the first fast bowler to reach that mark. Ravichandran Ashwin took his 36th five-wicket haul in his 100th Test.

Final score: India 4–1.

2024–25 — England’s white-ball tour of India

England toured India for 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is in January–February 2025.

India won the ODI series 3–0. The T20I series also went India’s way. Shubman Gill became the fastest batsman to 2,500 ODI runs (50 innings), breaking Hashim Amla’s record.

2025 — Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy

The India national cricket team vs England cricket team timeline reached a new chapter in 2025 when both boards replaced the Pataudi Trophy and Anthony de Mello Trophy with a single unified prize: the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy, named after James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar.

The 5-match series was one of the best in recent memory.

The finale at The Oval was decided on the final morning. India held on by 6 runs — the narrowest Test victory in their history.

Shubman Gill scored 754 runs in the series (average: 75.40), including a double century in the 2nd Test that broke Virat Kohli’s record for the highest score by an Indian captain. Mohammed Siraj took 23 wickets, the joint-most by any Indian bowler in England across a single Test series.

The series ended 2–2. The Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy was shared.

Head-to-head records

Overall

ICC tournament meetings

Bilateral Test series results

Home vs away record (Tests)

Venue-wise Test record (selected venues)

Records and statistics

Top run scorers — Tests

Top run scorers — ODIs

Leading wicket-takers — Tests

Highest individual scores

Highest team totals

Biggest victories

By runs:

• England by 8 wickets vs India (various)
• England by 247 runs — Oval 1959
• India by 336 runs — Edgbaston 2025

Closest matches:

• India won by 6 runs — The Oval 2025 (India’s narrowest ever Test win by runs)
• England won by 22 runs — Lord’s 2025
• England won by 28 runs — Hyderabad 2024
• India won by 1 wicket — Multiple ODIs

Memorable moments

1932 — India’s debut. CK Nayudu walking out at Lord’s for India’s first-ever Test match.

1952 — First win. Vinoo Mankad dismantling England in Madras to end a 20-year wait.

1971 — Chandrasekhar at The Oval. 6/38. India win their first series in England.

1990 — Tendulkar at 17. Old Trafford. A century from a teenager who went on to change everything.

2002 — Lord’s NatWest Final. Ganguly’s shirt. Kaif’s run chase. India 326 all out.

2007 — Trent Bridge. Zaheer Khan. India’s first series win in England in 21 years.

2018 — Kohli’s 593. Best England tour by an Indian batter in a losing series.

2021 — Lord’s. Siraj’s 4/32. India win by 151 runs.

2024 — Jaiswal’s 712. The most prolific series by any batter on an England tour of India.

2025 — The Oval final morning. India holding on by 6 runs to level the inaugural Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy.

Legendary player battles

Sachin Tendulkar vs James Anderson

Anderson dismissed Tendulkar frequently in English conditions. But Tendulkar also scored 8 centuries against England. A rivalry defined by mutual respect and genuine contest.

Virat Kohli vs James Anderson

The defining rivalry of the 2010s. Anderson had Kohli’s number in 2014 (Kohli averaged 13.40). Kohli responded with 593 runs in 2018 at 59.30. The result: 1–1, and both would claim it.

Joe Root vs Ravichandran Ashwin

Root averages north of 50 in Tests but has struggled against Ashwin in subcontinental conditions. Ashwin took a five-wicket haul in his 100th Test, with Root in the opposition.

Ben Stokes vs Jasprit Bumrah

Two generational all-rounders who produce their best when they face each other. Stokes’ chase at Edgbaston in 2022 (chasing 378) stands as his finest. Bumrah’s pace is the one thing even Stokes has no obvious answer to.

Shubman Gill vs Josh Tongue (2025)

The new-era battle. Gill’s 270 in Birmingham against Tongue’s persistent short-ball barrage was the centrepiece moment of the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy.

Statistical comparison

Captain comparison

Why this rivalry matters

It’s nearly 100 years old. That’s not rhetoric — it’s fact.

India played their first Test in 1932 against England. The relationship between these two teams has mirrored the political and cultural history between the two countries. Post-independence, the contests became more equal. By the 2000s, India were competitive anywhere. By the 2010s, they were dominant at home. By the 2020s, they were winning in England.

England’s Bazball era versus India’s depth in spin and pace. Joe Root chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s run-scoring records. Bumrah vs Stokes. Jaiswal vs Tongue. The story keeps generating new chapters.

The Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy is the latest version of that story. Two legends lending their names to an already-storied rivalry. And the inaugural edition delivered: 5 Tests, 3 results, 7,187 total runs (a record for any series of 5 Tests or fewer), and a finish decided by 6 runs on the final morning.

FAQ

When did India first play England in international cricket?

June 25, 1932. Lord’s, London. England won by 158 runs.

Who has won more Test matches between India and England?

England, with approximately 50 wins to India’s 34 in Tests. India lead in ODIs, 53–43.

What is India’s record against England in home Tests?

India have won roughly 24 home Tests against England, with only 7 England wins on Indian soil.

What was India’s first Test victory against England?

February 1952 in Madras (now Chennai). India won by an innings and 8 runs, with Vinoo Mankad taking 8 wickets.

Who has scored the most runs in India vs England Tests?

Sachin Tendulkar, with 2,535 runs including 8 centuries.

Who has taken the most wickets in Tests between these teams?

James Anderson for England, with over 100 wickets. For India, Anil Kumble (95) leads historically.

What is the highest team total in this rivalry?

England’s 759/7 declared at The Oval in 1938 remains the highest. More recently, England’s 669 at Old Trafford in 2025.

Which is the most memorable India vs England match?

The 2002 NatWest Final at Lord’s — India chasing 326 and winning by 2 wickets — is widely cited. The 2025 Oval Test (India winning by 6 runs on the final morning) is the most recent classic.

Who won the latest India vs England Test series?

The 2025 Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy ended 2–2. The series was shared. India won the 2024 home series 4–1.

What is the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy?

Introduced in 2025, it replaced both the Pataudi Trophy and Anthony de Mello Trophy as the single award given to the winner of any Test series between India and England. Named after James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar.