Lord’s has been very tormenting for India. Winning just 1 match in 82 years of test cricket out of 16 test played can be a torturing memory. Even Dhoni failed during 2011 tour despite leading then No. 1 Test Team. as they were trounced in the the 100th test of India-England series at Lord’s. Yet, with England facing personal challenge of being unable to taste a test win in last 9 tests, and Anderson issue having the power more to demoralise them, Dhoni may match Kapil’s feat who is the only Indian Captain to win a test at Lord’s.
Lord Has Been Unkind at Home of Cricket
Indian Test Record At Lord’s
India vs England 2014 Fixture and Results
Lord’s has been cruel to team India. The history of Indian team in England shows poor record at Lord’s. After 1983 World Cup win, it was again Kapil Dev who led India to victory at Lord’s. That is the only win recorded by India at Lord’s in 15 tests played since 1932. Dhoni has already equalled Kapil’s feat of World Cup victory. He failed in his first attempt in 2011 to match Kapil’s feat of test win at Lord’s.
Team Comparison of 1986 and 2014
Kapil Dev had Gavaskar also. But Vengasarkara and Amarnath ruled the English bowlers during the win. In the last tour Dhoni had Tendulkar, who like Gavaskar failed at Lord’s, and Dravid who had probably the second best record at Lord’s after Vengasarkar. Still they lost. Now, he does not have any recognized batsman, but the young crop of Virat Kohli, Pujara, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan.
Chetan Sharma, Binny and Maninder Singh were the key bowlers besides Kapil himself. Dhoni has Ishant Sharma who grabbed 4 wickets in 2011 test alongwith youngsters Bhuvneswar Kumar and Shami.
Dhoni himself a mixed record at Lord’s. His innings of undefeated 76 helped India save the 2007 test match by the skin of their teeth. But in 2011 he failed in both the innings as India lost by 196 runs. Dhoni has played four innings of 0 & 76* in 2007, and 28 & 16 in 2011.
The only hope for Dhoni is that except he and Ishant remaining team members have never stepped on Lord’s ground. The team is young and vibrant. Jadeja’s incident may propel them for better performance and England’s poor run may just give another reason to throw his captaincy charm all around and get India to victory in alien conditions.
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