The Indian cricket team toured England in the 1996 cricket season. They played a total of eighteen matches, including three Tests and three One Day Internationals (ODIs) against England.[1] In the Tests and ODIs, India were captained by Mohammad Azharuddin, while Michael Atherton captained England.
| Indian cricket team in England in 1996 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| India | England | ||
| Dates | 5 May – 9 July 1996 | ||
| Captains | Mohammad Azharuddin | Michael Atherton | |
| Test series | |||
| Result | England won the 3-match series 1–0 | ||
| Most runs | Sachin Tendulkar (428) | Nasser Hussain (318) | |
| Most wickets | Venkatesh Prasad (16) | Chris Lewis (15) | |
| Player of the series | Sourav Ganguly (Ind) and Nasser Hussain (Eng) | ||
| One Day International series | |||
| Results | England won the 3-match series 2–0 | ||
| Most runs | Mohammad Azharuddin (128) | Ali Brown (155) | |
| Most wickets | Venkatesh Prasad (5) | Dominic Cork (5) | |
| Player of the series | Mohammad Azharuddin (Ind) and Chris Lewis (Eng) | ||
This tour saw Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad make their Test debuts. Prasad made his debut in the 1st Test at Edgbaston, taking six wickets in this match and ultimately finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the Test series with 16. Ganguly and Dravid made their debuts in the 2nd Test at Lord's, scoring 131 and 95 respectively; both would go on to become mainstays of the Indian batting as well as national captains. The team also included established players such as Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Sanjay Manjrekar and Nayan Mongia.
Nonetheless, the tour was a disaster for India. The team lost the Test series 1–0 (with the last two matches drawn), and the ODI series 2–0 (with no result in the first match due to rain). The rest of the tour saw victories in a single-innings match against the Duke of Norfolk's XI and limited-overs matches against an England National Cricket Association XI and Middlesex, but also defeats in a limited-overs match against Northamptonshire and a first-class match against Derbyshire.[1] The tour was also marred by a spat between Azharuddin and opener Navjot Singh Sidhu, which resulted in the latter walking out of the tour after the 2nd ODI.[2] Following the tour, Azharuddin, who was also facing personal problems at the time, was sacked as captain.[3]
Tour matches
editThree-day: British Universities v Indians
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Three-day: Hampshire v Indians
edit29 June - 01 July 1996
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- Hampshire won the toss and elected to field
- Kevan James took four wickets (those of Vikram Rathour, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Manjrekar) in four balls then scored a century in the same match, a unique feat in first-class cricket.[4]
Test series
edit1st Test
edit6–9 June 1996
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- India won the toss and elected to bat.
- Ronnie Irani, Alan Mullally, Min Patel (all Eng), Sunil Joshi, Paras Mhambrey, Venkatesh Prasad and Vikram Rathour (all Ind) made their Test debuts.
2nd Test
edit20–24 June 1996
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- India won the toss and elected to field.
- Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly (both Ind) made their Test debuts. Umpire Dickie Bird stood in his 66th and final Test match.
3rd Test
edit4–9 July 1996
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- India won the toss and elected to bat.
- Mark Ealham (Eng) made his Test debut.
- July 7 was taken as a rest day and is to date the last test match in England to feature a rest day.
ODI series
edit1st ODI
edit 23–24 May 1996
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- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- Play was abandoned on the first day due to rain; no play was possible on the reserve day.
- Ali Brown, Mark Ealham, Ronnie Irani (all Eng) and Paras Mhambrey (Ind) made their ODI debuts.
2nd ODI
edit 25 May 1996
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- England won the toss and elected to field.
- Match reduced to 42 overs per side due to rain.
3rd ODI
edit 26–27 May 1996
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- India won the toss and elected to bat.
- Play was abandoned on the first day due to rain, with England 2/1 after 1 over.
References
edit- ^ a b "India tour of England, 1996". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Lele reveals why Sidhu walked out of 1996 England tour". The Times of India. 25 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ Panicker, Prem (2 January 1998). "Sachin sacked, Azhar back!". Rediff.com. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ "Records - First-class matches - Bowling records - Four wickets in four balls". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
External sources
editAnnual reviews
editFurther reading
edit- Ramachandra Guha, A Corner of a Foreign Field - An Indian History of a British Sport, Picador, 2001